Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stake in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,779 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,106 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN's holdings in Qiagen were worth $2,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 152.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 148.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Stock Performance

Shares of Qiagen stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.61. 936,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,133,220. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $49.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 3.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.65, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.62.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QGEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W cut shares of Qiagen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $46.67 price target (down from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Qiagen from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price 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, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.83.

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.