Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,931 shares of the life sciences company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Illumina by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 3.0% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 2.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 4,484 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Illumina by 1.7% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,818 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Illumina by 3.8% in the third quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 2,757 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Illumina Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ILMN stock opened at $136.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Illumina, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.08 and a 12-month high of $156.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.68 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $138.91 and its 200 day moving average is $134.26.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The life sciences company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.26. Illumina had a positive return on equity of 7.29% and a negative net margin of 36.10%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Illumina’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ILMN shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Illumina from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Illumina from $170.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Illumina from $252.00 to $254.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Illumina from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Illumina from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.63.

Illumina 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.