Piper Jaffray Maintains Illumina Overweight Rating (ILMN)

Piper Jaffray maintained its Illumina ILMN Overweight rating in a research report published today. Piper Jaffray stated that its Illumina $61 pirce target will be under review following Illumina's Q4 2010 earnings release and conference call. In the report, Piper Jaffray states, "Initial results from a handful of runs at the Broad and Wash U (two early access users for Illumina's Hiseq system upgrade) appear consistent with quoted specs. Not surprisingly, interest in Miseq appears very solid considering the instrument has yet to be launched. Overall, attendance is up and the conference, which typically sells out quickly, set a new record by selling out in 36 hours, a bi-product of its success, but also a continued signal of interest in translational applications, in our opinion. Shares of Illumina were at $68.46 in pre-market trading at the time of posting, down 4.00% from Wednesday's market close.