Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $42.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $52.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on QGEN. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price target (up previously from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $46.67 price objective (down from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.71.

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of NYSE QGEN opened at $39.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.61. Qiagen has a one year low of $38.49 and a one year high of $49.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.03, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.04.

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

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 12.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Qiagen by 6.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Qiagen by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Qiagen by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.