Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Illumina, Inc. (ILMN)

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. ILMN investors should be aware of a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 37 hedge funds in our database with ILMN holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

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Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN).

What have hedge funds been doing with Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 28 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -24% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN). Citadel Investment Group has a $103.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Sectoral Asset Management, managed by Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom, which held a $95.2 million position; 2.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors, Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP and Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management.

Since Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has witnessed a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Dan Loeb’s Third Point said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we track, comprising close to $83.4 million in stock.. Rob Citrone’s fund, Discovery Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $58.2 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 9 funds last quarter.

Insider trading activity in Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN). These stocks are Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX), Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN), and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX). This group of stocks are the members of the biotechnology industry and their market caps are similar to ILMN’s market cap.