Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 5,751,359 shares, a decrease of 36.7% from the May 14th total of 9,080,139 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,066,694 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of NYSE QGEN traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $36.76. 1,064,182 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,301,708. The company has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Qiagen has a 52-week low of $32.53 and a 52-week high of $57.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.80.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The business had revenue of $492.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.15 million. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 19.16%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Qiagen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 104.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. This is a boost from Qiagen’s previous annual dividend of $0.26. Qiagen’s dividend payout ratio is 18.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on QGEN shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on Qiagen and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $46.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Qiagen from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Qiagen from $60.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Qiagen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.98.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Qiagen during the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Qiagen by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 8,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,799 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Qiagen by 123.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,006,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,350,000 after purchasing an additional 556,387 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 226.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,639,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Qiagen Company Profile

Qiagen NV (NYSE: QGEN) is a global provider of sample and assay technologies designed to enable molecular testing in the fields of molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research and pharmaceutical development. The company’s solutions span the full workflow of nucleic acid and protein analysis, offering customers standardized kits, instruments and software tools that streamline the preparation, detection and quantification of DNA, RNA and proteins.

The company’s product portfolio includes nucleic acid extraction and purification systems, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents and instrumentation, digital PCR platforms, next-generation sequencing (NGS) library‐preparation kits and proteomics solutions.