Keith Meister Sells 299,336 Shares of Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Stock

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Director Keith Meister sold 299,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.96, for a total transaction of $65,243,274.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,409,851 shares in the company, valued at $307,291,123.96. This trade represents a 17.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Illumina Stock Performance

ILMN stock opened at $219.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.44. Illumina, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.00 and a fifty-two week high of $220.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.45.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Illumina had a return on equity of 29.84% and a net margin of 18.36%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. Analysts forecast that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Illumina

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Illumina’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $1.31 per share versus the $1.23 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.16 billion versus expectations of $1.13 billion. Revenue increased 9.4% year over year, while fiscal 2026 EPS guidance remains $5.30-$5.40. Illumina stock information
• Positive Sentiment: Several institutional investors increased their positions, including Marshall Wace, Cresset Asset Management and Empowered Funds. Hedge funds and other institutions collectively own approximately 89.4% of ILMN shares, indicating strong professional-investor participation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain mixed. Zacks Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” and Leerink Partners raised its target to $210, while Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to “hold.” The overall consensus rating is “hold,” with an average target of $188.40—below recent trading levels. Analyst coverage of Illumina
• Negative Sentiment: Director Keith A. Meister sold 679,574 Illumina shares from August 19 through August 21 for approximately $145.6 million. The transactions reduced his ownership by roughly one-third, although he still holds about 1.41 million shares. The size and timing of the sales may raise concerns about insider conviction, even though the filings do not establish the reason for the transactions. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: SVP Christensen Jakob Wedel also sold 1,033 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The smaller, planned transaction is less concerning than Meister’s sales but adds to the recent pattern of insider selling. Illumina insider trading alert

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Illumina in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Illumina during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Illumina in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 89.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ILMN shares. Daiwa Securities Group upgraded Illumina from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illumina from $155.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Illumina from $200.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Illumina from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Illumina to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.40.

Illumina Company Profile

Illumina, Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN) is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. Headquartered in San Diego, California and founded in 1998, Illumina offers a range of sequencing and array-based technologies used by academic researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, consumer genomics firms and agricultural researchers to enable discovery, translational research and clinical applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and associated consumables, microarrays for genotyping and methylation analysis, library preparation kits and targeted assays.