Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Short Interest Down 9.7% in December

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,510,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the November 30th total of 7,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ILMN. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Illumina from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Illumina from $166.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Illumina from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Illumina from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Illumina from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.95.

Illumina Stock Performance

Shares of ILMN opened at $133.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.38 and its 200-day moving average is $131.02. Illumina has a 12-month low of $100.08 and a 12-month high of $156.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The life sciences company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.26. Illumina had a negative net margin of 36.10% and a positive return on equity of 7.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Illumina will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in Illumina in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,924,000. Freemont Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Illumina in the third quarter worth approximately $1,565,000. Weybosset Research & Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Illumina by 92.0% during the third quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC now owns 18,052 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 8,650 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Illumina by 176.3% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,176 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 4,579 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Illumina by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,806 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $4,278,000 after acquiring an additional 12,986 shares in the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Illumina

Illumina, Inc offers sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis in the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Core Illumina and GRAIL segments. The company offers sequencing and array-based instruments and consumables, which include reagents, flow cells, and library preparation; whole-genome sequencing kits, which sequence entire genomes of various size and complexity; and targeted resequencing kits, which sequence exomes, specific genes, and RNA or other genomic regions of interest.