Martin Currie Ltd. Sells 266,066 Shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Martin Currie Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) by 54.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,298 shares of the life sciences company’s stock after selling 266,066 shares during the period. Illumina accounts for approximately 1.1% of Martin Currie Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Martin Currie Ltd. owned 0.14% of Illumina worth $29,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Stockton raised its position in shares of Illumina by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,162 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Illumina by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,623 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Illumina by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 470 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Illumina by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 617 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Illumina by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 611 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ILMN. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Illumina from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Illumina in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $177.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Illumina from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Illumina from $170.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.90.

Illumina Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ILMN opened at $80.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Illumina, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.30 and a 12-month high of $156.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 27.95%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.