DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 1,154,523 Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its holdings in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Free Report) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,002,838 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,154,523 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 1.35% of Qiagen worth $133,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in Qiagen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Qiagen by 41.5% in 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 during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 152.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qiagen Trading Down 1.1%

QGEN traded down $0.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.47. 862,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,135,406. The company's fifty day moving average price is $40.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.61. Qiagen has a fifty-two week low of $37.63 and a fifty-two week high of $49.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 118.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.67.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The firm had revenue of $483.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $465.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QGEN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Qiagen from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Qiagen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Qiagen presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.42.

Qiagen 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.