Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $49.64 and last traded at $49.61, with a volume of 1668204 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on QGEN shares. 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Qiagen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.40.

Qiagen Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 129.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $46.75 and its 200 day moving average is $43.21.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $483.46 million during 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%. Qiagen's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Qiagen N.V. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Qiagen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 2nd. Qiagen's payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qiagen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QGEN. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in Qiagen by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,996 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 17,825 shares of the company's stock worth $716,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 19,823 shares of the company's stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,240 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qiagen

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.