Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down from $50.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qiagen

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Qiagen by 77.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,250,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,386,000 after buying an additional 9,293,040 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in Qiagen by 17.3% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 5,271,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,606,000 after purchasing an additional 778,005 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Qiagen by 11.1% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,807,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,441,000 after purchasing an additional 379,679 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Qiagen by 12.2% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,248,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,292,000 after purchasing an additional 353,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 62.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,574,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,329,000 after purchasing an additional 991,325 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qiagen Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of QGEN opened at $45.23 on Thursday. Qiagen has a 12 month low of $39.03 and a 12 month high of $47.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 115.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.37.

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.