HSBC Lowers Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) to Hold

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at HSBC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $49.00 target price on the stock. HSBC's target price suggests a potential upside of 14.78% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on QGEN. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Qiagen from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Qiagen from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.12.

Qiagen Stock Performance

NYSE QGEN traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,660,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,194,980. Qiagen has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $47.44. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.52. The company has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Qiagen had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 3.75%. The company had revenue of $496.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.45 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Qiagen's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 853 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 806.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 562 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Qiagen in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in Qiagen in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Qiagen

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.