Qiagen Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:QGEN)

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 4,493 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 261% compared to the average daily volume of 1,246 call options.

Qiagen Stock Up 12.5%

Shares of NYSE:QGEN traded up $4.75 during trading on Thursday, hitting $42.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,652,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,356,023. Qiagen has a fifty-two week low of $32.53 and a fifty-two week high of $57.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.21. The company has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.64.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 19.16%.The company had revenue of $492.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Qiagen Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. This is a boost from Qiagen’s previous annual dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 7th. Qiagen’s payout ratio is presently 18.32%.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Qiagen by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 24,205,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,088,538,000 after purchasing an additional 264,921 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,542,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,871,000 after purchasing an additional 118,135 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,429,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,072,000 after purchasing an additional 906,589 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Qiagen by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,907,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,614,000 after purchasing an additional 697,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Qiagen by 12.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,757,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,498,000 after purchasing an additional 524,959 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QGEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Qiagen from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 target price on Qiagen and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.15.

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.