Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $198.10 and last traded at $198.7910, with a volume of 112974 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $190.87.

Key Stories Impacting Illumina

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Illumina was highlighted in a batch of valuation and relative-performance articles comparing it with peers such as Exelixis and Celldex Therapeutics, which may be keeping attention on whether ILMN looks cheap or expensive versus other healthcare names. EXEL vs. ILMN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remained middling, with Illumina reported as having an average “Hold” recommendation, suggesting Wall Street is not seeing an immediate reason to aggressively buy or sell the shares. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Illumina’s role in the Billion Cell Atlas alliance and broader genomics/CRISPR collaboration was noted in commentary on AstraZeneca, but this appears more like a long-term strategic backdrop than a near-term stock mover. AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) And The Valuation Case Behind Its Drug Pipeline Narrative
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change in reported shares outstanding for short positions, so there is no clear evidence here of a new bearish squeeze or panic selling signal.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ILMN. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Illumina from $140.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Illumina from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Illumina from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Illumina from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Illumina from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.88.

Illumina Stock Down 1.4%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $171.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.47.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. Illumina had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 31.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Scott M. Davies sold 615 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $110,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,771,540. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Christensen Jakob Wedel sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.04, for a total transaction of $97,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,386.24. This trade represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,003,769 shares of company stock valued at $155,710,908. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Illumina

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Illumina by 235.8% in the first quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 11,080 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 7,780 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Illumina by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 86,318 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $10,640,000 after buying an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Illumina in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,460,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in shares of Illumina by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 348,011 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $45,645,000 after buying an additional 74,900 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Illumina by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,237 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $13,803,000 after buying an additional 14,072 shares during the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.