NS Partners Ltd Increases Holdings in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

NS Partners Ltd lifted its position in shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,566 shares of the life sciences company’s stock after buying an additional 16,463 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Illumina were worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Illumina in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Illumina by 153.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 241 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Illumina during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Illumina by 954.8% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 327 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Illumina by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 382 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Illumina Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $86.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Illumina, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.18 and a 1-year high of $156.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $118.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The life sciences company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.06). Illumina had a negative net margin of 27.95% and a positive return on equity of 13.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ILMN. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Illumina from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Illumina from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen downgraded Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $177.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays downgraded Illumina from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Illumina from $250.00 to $247.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.25.

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.