Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,375,287 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the previous session’s volume of 1,230,574 shares.The stock last traded at $43.07 and had previously closed at $42.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Qiagen from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.48 to $51.00 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Qiagen from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Qiagen from $61.86 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Qiagen from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.95.

Qiagen Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.78.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.02. Qiagen had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 17.38%. The business had revenue of $459.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QGEN. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 1st quarter worth $974,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Qiagen by 5.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,374,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,090,000 after buying an additional 66,203 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Qiagen by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Qiagen by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,756,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,502,000 after buying an additional 222,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Qiagen by 97.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 263,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,900,000 after acquiring an additional 130,006 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.