Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.71.

Several research analysts recently commented on QGEN shares. Robert W. Baird lowered Qiagen from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.67 price objective (down from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Qiagen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $52.50 price objective (up from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Qiagen by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Qiagen by 152.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 148.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Stock Performance

NYSE QGEN opened at $38.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 3.09. Qiagen has a 1-year low of $38.29 and a 1-year high of $49.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 106.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.36.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. On average, research analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Qiagen

QIAGEN NV is a holding company, which engages in the provision of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. The company sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA, and proteins from blood, tissue, and other materials.