Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,803 shares of the life sciences company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Illumina were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Illumina by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its position in shares of Illumina by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,162 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Illumina by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Illumina by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,623 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Illumina by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,818 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ILMN shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Illumina from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Illumina from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Illumina from $170.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Illumina from $127.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.25.

Illumina Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $85.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of -11.16, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s fifty day moving average is $120.36 and its 200 day moving average is $132.17. Illumina, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.18 and a 52 week high of $156.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The life sciences company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.06). Illumina had a positive return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 27.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Illumina Company Profile

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.