Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $392,000 in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,931 shares of the life sciences company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Illumina by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 382 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Illumina by 65.1% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 426 shares of the life sciences company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Illumina by 81.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 473 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina in the third quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors own 89.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Illumina from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Illumina from $156.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Illumina from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Illumina from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Illumina from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illumina has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.63.

Illumina Trading Up 1.1 %

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

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The life sciences company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. Illumina’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Illumina Company 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.