Short Interest in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Expands By 28.6%

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 8,300,465 shares, an increase of 28.6% from the January 15th total of 6,455,325 shares. Approximately 5.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,093,599 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,093,599 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 5.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott M. Davies sold 323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.09, for a total transaction of $43,957.07. Following the sale, the insider owned 17,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,434,241.83. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Illumina

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Illumina by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 35,745 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $4,688,000 after buying an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Illumina by 121.9% during the 4th quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 338,251 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $44,365,000 after purchasing an additional 185,810 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Illumina by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426,126 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $580,531,000 after buying an additional 1,028,099 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP bought a new stake in Illumina in the fourth quarter worth $35,370,000. Finally, Cardiff Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illumina in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Illumina Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ILMN opened at $116.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Illumina has a 12 month low of $68.70 and a 12 month high of $155.53.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The life sciences company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.09. Illumina had a net margin of 19.57% and a return on equity of 31.04%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Illumina’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.050-5.200 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Illumina will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ILMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Illumina from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Illumina from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Illumina in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Illumina in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $144.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.94.

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.