Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.25.

QGEN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Qiagen from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Qiagen from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Qiagen from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Qiagen Stock Performance

Shares of QGEN stock opened at $43.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.77. Qiagen has a one year low of $34.74 and a one year high of $47.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.39.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $496.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.45 million. Qiagen had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QGEN. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Qiagen during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Qiagen during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Qiagen in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 39.8% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 853 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Company Profile

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.