Qiagen Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:QGEN)

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 30,191 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,518% compared to the average daily volume of 1,153 call options.

Qiagen Price Performance

Qiagen stock opened at $42.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.21. Qiagen has a 52 week low of $32.53 and a 52 week high of $57.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.43 and a 200-day moving average of $41.98.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The business had revenue of $492.32 million for 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Qiagen Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 7th. This is a positive change from Qiagen’s previous annual dividend of $0.26. Qiagen’s payout ratio is currently 18.32%.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Qiagen by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Qiagen by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Qiagen by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Qiagen by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 7.1% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday, May 18th. Berenberg Bank set a $45.50 price target on shares of Qiagen and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Qiagen from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $43.00 price target on Qiagen and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets set a $38.60 price objective on Qiagen and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qiagen has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.34.

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.