Raymond James & Associates Sells 343,714 Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its stake in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) by 63.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 198,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343,714 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.09% of Qiagen worth $9,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Qiagen by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Qiagen by 12.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 4,561 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Qiagen by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Qiagen by 806.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 73,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 19,900 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Stock Performance

QGEN opened at $41.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.56. The company has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Qiagen has a 52-week low of $34.74 and a 52-week high of $47.44.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $496.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.45 million. Qiagen had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on QGEN shares. HSBC lowered shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Qiagen from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.12.

Qiagen Company Profile

QIAGEN N.V. offers sample to insight solutions that transform biological materials into molecular insights worldwide. The company provides primary sample technology consumables, such as nucleic stabilization and purification kits for primary sample materials, manual and automated processing for genotyping, gene expression, and viral and bacterial analysis, as well as silica membranes and magnetic bead technologies; secondary sample technology consumables, including kits and components for purification of nucleic acids from secondary sample materials; and instruments for nucleic acid purification and accessories.