Analysts Set Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Target Price at $47.71

Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.71.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on QGEN shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated 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. Baird R W lowered Qiagen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Qiagen from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $52.50 price objective (up previously from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN opened at $37.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.80. The company has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.39, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.36. Qiagen has a 12-month low of $37.63 and a 12-month high of $49.30.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QGEN. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Qiagen in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 152.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Qiagen by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.