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

Shares of Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.9789.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Qiagen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Qiagen from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 target price on Qiagen and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th.

Qiagen Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:QGEN opened at $35.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.64. Qiagen has a 1-year low of $32.53 and a 1-year high of $57.81. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.11.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $492.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.15 million. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 19.16%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qiagen Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 104.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 7th. This is an increase from Qiagen’s previous annual dividend of $0.26. Qiagen’s payout ratio is currently 13.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QGEN. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 1,383.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 279.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Qiagen

Qiagen NV (NYSE: QGEN) is a global provider of sample and assay technologies designed to enable molecular testing in the fields of molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research and pharmaceutical development. The company’s solutions span the full workflow of nucleic acid and protein analysis, offering customers standardized kits, instruments and software tools that streamline the preparation, detection and quantification of DNA, RNA and proteins.

The company’s product portfolio includes nucleic acid extraction and purification systems, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents and instrumentation, digital PCR platforms, next-generation sequencing (NGS) library‐preparation kits and proteomics solutions.