Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Director Keith Meister Sells 285,238 Shares of Stock

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) Director Keith Meister sold 285,238 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.86, for a total transaction of $61,000,998.68. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,709,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,526,731.82. The trade was a 14.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Illumina Price Performance

ILMN stock opened at $219.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.93, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $188.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Illumina, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.00 and a 12-month high of $220.43.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Illumina had a return on equity of 29.84% and a net margin of 18.36%.Illumina’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.300-5.400 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Illumina News

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Illumina’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $1.31 per share versus the $1.23 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.16 billion versus expectations of $1.13 billion. Revenue increased 9.4% year over year, while fiscal 2026 EPS guidance remains $5.30-$5.40. Illumina stock information
• Positive Sentiment: Several institutional investors increased their positions, including Marshall Wace, Cresset Asset Management and Empowered Funds. Hedge funds and other institutions collectively own approximately 89.4% of ILMN shares, indicating strong professional-investor participation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain mixed. Zacks Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” and Leerink Partners raised its target to $210, while Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to “hold.” The overall consensus rating is “hold,” with an average target of $188.40—below recent trading levels. Analyst coverage of Illumina
• Negative Sentiment: Director Keith A. Meister sold 679,574 Illumina shares from August 19 through August 21 for approximately $145.6 million. The transactions reduced his ownership by roughly one-third, although he still holds about 1.41 million shares. The size and timing of the sales may raise concerns about insider conviction, even though the filings do not establish the reason for the transactions. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: SVP Christensen Jakob Wedel also sold 1,033 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The smaller, planned transaction is less concerning than Meister’s sales but adds to the recent pattern of insider selling. Illumina insider trading alert

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Illumina

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ILMN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Illumina in the second quarter worth about $3,374,423,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Illumina during the 2nd quarter valued at about $617,981,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Illumina during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $358,652,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Illumina by 45.5% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,923,173 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $715,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Illumina during the 2nd quarter valued at $293,846,000. 89.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Illumina in a report on Friday, July 31st. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Illumina from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Illumina in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Illumina from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.40.

About Illumina

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.