Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Receives $47.71 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.71.

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

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of Qiagen stock opened at $40.17 on Tuesday. Qiagen has a 52 week low of $37.63 and a 52 week high of $49.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 111.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.09.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 EPS 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Qiagen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,746,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Qiagen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Qiagen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Qiagen by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 492,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,922,000 after purchasing an additional 30,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Qiagen Company Profile

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.