Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays set a $53.00 price target on Qiagen and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.28.

Qiagen Stock Performance

QGEN opened at $45.25 on Friday. Qiagen has a 1-year low of $37.63 and a 1-year high of $51.88. The company has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Qiagen had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $532.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Qiagen by 52.3% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 245,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,845,000 after purchasing an additional 84,332 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Qiagen by 117.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,252,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,217,000 after buying an additional 675,498 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Qiagen in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $304,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Qiagen by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 66,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,215,000 after acquiring an additional 9,544 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 136.6% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 197,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,514,000 after acquiring an additional 114,289 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.