Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays set a $53.00 price objective on Qiagen and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.28.

Qiagen Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of QGEN stock opened at $45.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.50 and a 200-day moving average of $47.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Qiagen has a 1-year low of $37.63 and a 1-year high of $51.88.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 19.58%.The company had revenue of $532.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $525.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Qiagen by 23.2% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Qiagen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Qiagen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $283,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Qiagen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $749,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.