QIAGEN (NYSE:QGEN) Given New $53.00 Price Target at Bank of America

QIAGEN (NYSE:QGEN - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Bank of America from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on QGEN. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of QIAGEN in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of QIAGEN from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of QIAGEN from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of QIAGEN from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.40.

QIAGEN Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of QGEN stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $47.76. 1,836,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,194,538. The firm has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.67. QIAGEN has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $49.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.21 and a 200 day moving average of $42.50.

QIAGEN (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $483.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $465.66 million. QIAGEN had a net margin of 4.68% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Analysts expect that QIAGEN will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of QIAGEN

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QGEN. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of QIAGEN by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,049 shares of the company's stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in QIAGEN by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,766 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in QIAGEN in the fourth quarter worth $432,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in QIAGEN by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 64,318 shares of the company's stock worth $2,864,000 after purchasing an additional 20,375 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in QIAGEN in the fourth quarter worth $1,521,000. 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.