Morgan Stanley Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $48.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $50.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.74% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC cut 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Qiagen Stock Performance

NYSE:QGEN opened at $44.97 on Monday. Qiagen has a twelve month low of $39.03 and a twelve month high of $47.44. The company has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 77.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,250,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,386,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293,040 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Qiagen by 170.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,849,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,259,000 after buying an additional 1,165,594 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Qiagen by 62.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,574,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,329,000 after buying an additional 991,325 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 5,271,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,606,000 after acquiring an additional 778,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Qiagen by 148.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,184,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,684,000 after purchasing an additional 708,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Qiagen

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.