Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.71.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Qiagen by 5.7% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 5,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 1.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 25,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Qiagen Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of QGEN stock opened at $40.17 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.09. Qiagen has a twelve month low of $37.63 and a twelve month high of $49.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.86, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued 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 net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, research analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current 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.