Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Short Interest Up 23.9% in February

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, an increase of 23.9% from the January 31st total of 2,550,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Qiagen Price Performance

NYSE QGEN traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.76. 1,783,677 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,266,100. The company has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 3.09. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $49.30.

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

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 3.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,380,008 shares of the company's stock worth $108,457,000 after buying an additional 90,181 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 5.0% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,426,392 shares of the company's stock worth $65,001,000 after purchasing an additional 68,415 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 129.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 20,192 shares of the company's stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 11,385 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 24.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,506 shares of the company's stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 3,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 36.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,604,034 shares of the company's stock worth $73,096,000 after purchasing an additional 424,937 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on QGEN shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $52.50 price objective (up from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Baird R W lowered Qiagen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $46.67 price target (down from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Qiagen from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $42.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.71.

Qiagen Company 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.