Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Receives $50.07 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.07.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Qiagen to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $46.67 price objective (down from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $52.50 target price (up from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC lowered Qiagen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $47.64 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Qiagen by 77.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,250,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $963,386,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293,040 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Qiagen by 170.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,849,004 shares of the company's stock worth $84,259,000 after buying an additional 1,165,594 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Qiagen by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,574,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,329,000 after acquiring an additional 991,325 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in Qiagen by 10,610.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 649,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,606,000 after acquiring an additional 643,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Qiagen by 36.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,604,034 shares of the company's stock worth $73,096,000 after acquiring an additional 424,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Qiagen Stock Performance

NYSE:QGEN traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $42.41. 2,851,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,233,771. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.36. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $40.15 and a 1 year high of $49.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 13.43%. Analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.