Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.69.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $45.36 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Qiagen from $61.86 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Qiagen from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.48 to $51.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.97. 863,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,242,839. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $47.70. The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $43.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55. Qiagen had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $509.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $500.77 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qiagen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a $1.3196 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its position in Qiagen by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,698 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,815,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,856,000 after acquiring an additional 83,371 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at $325,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,271,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,712 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Qiagen Company Profile

QIAGEN N.V. offers sample to insight solutions that transform biological materials into molecular insights worldwide. The company provides primary sample technology consumables, such as nucleic stabilization and purification kits for primary sample materials, manual and automated processing for genotyping, gene expression, and viral and bacterial analysis, as well as silica membranes and magnetic bead technologies; secondary sample technology consumables, including kits and components for purification of nucleic acids from secondary sample materials; and instruments for nucleic acid purification and accessories.