UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT on Sequenom

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Neutral rating on Sequenom

, and slightly raised its price target from $4.50 to $5.00. Piper Jaffray noted, “Sequenom announced positive preliminary 2012 results, with revenue increasing ~59% year-over-year, implying 4Q12 revenue of ~$33M, favorable to both our $25.5M estimate and consensus of $30.1M. Management described continued momentum in its MaterniT21 business, with more than 60,000 tests accessioned during 2012, topping our 57,000 estimate and translating into ~23,000 tests delivered in 4Q12 (+28% qoq). Additionally, Sequenom announced an annualized MaterniT21 run-rate of over 120,000 tests exiting 2012. We are increasing our 4Q12 and FY13 estimates to reflect the favorable pre-announcement and MaterniT21 test run-rate, but concerns over spending required to gain market share (especially following Illumina's Verinata acquisition) keep us Neutral on SQNM shares. Maintaining our 3.1 EV/Rev multiple yields a $5.00 price target (was $4.50).” Sequenom closed on Friday at $5.23.