Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Holdings in Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) by 23.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,917 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Qiagen were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of QGEN. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 1st quarter worth approximately $94,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 770.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 93.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN opened at $49.36 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.37 and a 200 day moving average of $43.71. Qiagen N.V. has a 52-week low of $37.63 and a 52-week high of $51.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.64.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60. The business had revenue of $533.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $523.97 million. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 18.30%. Qiagen’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qiagen N.V. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Qiagen Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a yield of 52.0%. Qiagen’s payout ratio is 14.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QGEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Qiagen from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays began coverage on Qiagen in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Qiagen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Qiagen from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.69.

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.