Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.71.

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

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of QGEN opened at $38.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Qiagen has a twelve month low of $38.29 and a twelve month high of $49.30. The company has a market cap of $8.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Qiagen by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 152.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Qiagen in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.