Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on QGEN. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Qiagen from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Qiagen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qiagen currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.42.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN stock opened at $41.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 3.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.83 and its 200-day moving average is $41.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a PE ratio of 114.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.67. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $49.30.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $483.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $465.66 million. Qiagen had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QGEN. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 66,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 16,106 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 16,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 4,225 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. 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.