Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Qiagen N.V. $QGEN

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group disclosed a new Q3 stake in Qiagen of 68,411 shares valued at about $3.03 million, according to its latest Form 13F filing.
• Equity analysts hold a consensus rating of "Hold" on Qiagen with a consensus target price of $55.20 (four Buys vs. eight Holds), while individual targets range from about $52 to $58.
• Qiagen beat quarterly estimates with $0.62 EPS (vs. $0.61) and revenue of $540.4M (vs. $528.5M), and its shares trade near $43 with a 12‑month range of $40.14–$57.81.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 68,411 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,025,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Qiagen by 1,383.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in Qiagen by 998.9% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 260.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,102 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 375.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,241 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 64.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,610 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $58.00 price objective on Qiagen and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on Qiagen in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Qiagen from $55.40 to $55.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Qiagen in a report on Friday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.20.

Qiagen Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE QGEN opened at $43.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Qiagen N.V. has a 12-month low of $40.14 and a 12-month high of $57.81. The company has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.70.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 20.33%.The company had revenue of $540.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $528.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Qiagen N.V. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Qiagen Profile

Qiagen NV NYSE: QGEN is a global provider of sample and assay technologies designed to enable molecular testing in the fields of molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research and pharmaceutical development. The company's solutions span the full workflow of nucleic acid and protein analysis, offering customers standardized kits, instruments and software tools that streamline the preparation, detection and quantification of DNA, RNA and proteins.

The company's product portfolio includes nucleic acid extraction and purification systems, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents and instrumentation, digital PCR platforms, next-generation sequencing (NGS) library‐preparation kits and proteomics solutions.

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