Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Given New $53.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) had its price objective upped by Bank of America from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on QGEN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Qiagen from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.30.

Qiagen Stock Performance

NYSE:QGEN opened at $48.07 on Thursday. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $49.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a PE ratio of 120.51, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.67.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.68% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $483.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $465.66 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Qiagen’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 31.8% in 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 period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Qiagen by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 63,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after buying an additional 25,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Qiagen by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Company Profile

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.