Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Still a Buy?

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)’s share price traded up 2.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $39.31 and last traded at $39.10. 359,589 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 1,093,214 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QGEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $46.67 price objective (down previously from $48.61) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $52.50 target price (up from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Qiagen from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.71.

Qiagen Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.29, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.91.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 13.92%. As a group, analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QGEN. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 7,684.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 118,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,744,000 after purchasing an additional 116,643 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Qiagen in the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the fourth quarter valued at about $95,746,000. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the 4th quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Qiagen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.