Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ILMN. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Illumina in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Illumina from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Illumina in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Illumina from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Illumina from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.40.

Illumina Price Performance

NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $203.01 on Monday. Illumina has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $207.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $148.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.45.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Illumina will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Illumina news, insider Scott M. Davies sold 615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,338 shares in the company, valued at $4,067,600. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Patricia Leckman sold 783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.59, for a total value of $127,307.97. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 21,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,456,500.81. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,003,684 shares of company stock worth $155,736,580. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illumina

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Illumina by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 195 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in Illumina in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Illumina in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Illumina by 52.5% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 244 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Illumina

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Clinical sequencing and NovaSeq X demand support growth. Illumina’s second-quarter revenue rose 9.4% year over year to approximately $1.16 billion, beating the $1.13 billion consensus estimate. Management cited clinical momentum and NovaSeq X placements when raising its 2026 revenue forecast to $4.60 billion-$4.64 billion. Illumina Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets. Piper Sandler reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and increased its price target to $225 from $200. Other recent target increases included $210 and $230, suggesting some analysts expect further upside as sequencing demand improves. Piper Sandler rating update Illumina price target raised to $210 Illumina price target raised to $230
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong momentum has pushed the stock near a 52-week high. The rally reflects improving revenue expectations and earnings execution, but the elevated share price could make ILMN more sensitive to any weakness in guidance, instrument placements or clinical adoption. Illumina hits a fresh high
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns may limit additional gains. With the shares trading at elevated earnings and growth multiples, some analysis suggests Illumina may be overvalued despite improving fundamentals. Investors may demand continued strong execution to justify the current valuation. Cash-producing stocks analysis
• Negative Sentiment: An executive sold a modest amount of stock. Chief Legal Officer Scott M. Davies sold 615 shares for approximately $123,000, reducing his holdings by 2.94%. Because the transaction occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and he retained 20,338 shares, the signal is limited but slightly negative for sentiment. Illumina insider sale

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.