KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $8.05 Million Investment in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 60,245 shares of the life sciences company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,051,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Illumina by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 134,913 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $18,028,000 after buying an additional 4,738 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Illumina by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 226,852 shares of the life sciences company’s stock worth $30,314,000 after acquiring an additional 23,338 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina during the fourth quarter worth about $1,173,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Illumina during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Illumina during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,931,000. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illumina Price Performance

ILMN stock opened at $88.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a PE ratio of -11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.17. Illumina, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.18 and a 12 month high of $156.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.97. 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 (NASDAQ:ILMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The life sciences company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.06). Illumina had a positive return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 27.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Illumina, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ILMN. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Illumina from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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 research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen lowered Illumina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $177.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Illumina from $127.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.90.

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.