Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is “Hold”: 11 of 15 covering firms rate Qiagen a hold and four recommend buying; the average 12-month price target is $46.34. Shares recently traded at $49.92.
• Recent analyst moves were mixed: Citigroup raised its target to $52 while maintaining a neutral rating, and JPMorgan cut its rating to neutral and lowered its target to $52.
• Qiagen topped quarterly expectations: It reported EPS of $0.65 versus $0.63 expected and revenue of $547.87 million versus $538.61 million expected; revenue grew 2.8% year over year.

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.34.

A number of research firms recently commented on QGEN. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Qiagen from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Friday, September 11th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Qiagen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Qiagen from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Qiagen during the third quarter worth $36,232,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter valued at $437,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 173,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,578,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 16,907 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,383,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,642,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,745,182. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.51 and a 200 day moving average of $42.65. Qiagen has a fifty-two week low of $32.53 and a fifty-two week high of $57.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.02. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 18.19%. The firm had revenue of $547.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

About Qiagen

QIAGEN is a life sciences company that develops technologies used to prepare and analyze biological samples. Its products help researchers and clinicians extract and process DNA, RNA and proteins from samples such as blood, tissue and other biological materials. The company offers laboratory consumables, instruments and software for molecular diagnostics and life sciences research, as well as applications in pharmaceutical research and applied testing. Its portfolio includes sample-preparation kits, molecular testing assays and platforms for PCR, digital PCR and next-generation sequencing.

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