Forsta AP Fonden Sells 18,586 Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Forsta AP Fonden decreased its holdings in shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Free Report) by 64.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,146 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,586 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Qiagen were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of QGEN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 806.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 562 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in Qiagen during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Qiagen by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 853 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 396.6% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on QGEN. HSBC cut Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Qiagen to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Qiagen from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.12.

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of QGEN traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.10. 925,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,170,886. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.38 and a 200 day moving average of $43.56. Qiagen has a one year low of $36.10 and a one year high of $47.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.39.

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

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.