Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on QGEN. UBS Group set a $52.00 target price on Qiagen in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Qiagen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Qiagen from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $53.00 price objective on Qiagen in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Qiagen has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.20.

Qiagen Stock Down 0.8%

Qiagen stock opened at $43.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a current ratio of 3.90. Qiagen has a fifty-two week low of $40.14 and a fifty-two week high of $57.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.05.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 20.33%.The business had revenue of $540.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $528.53 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Qiagen in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qiagen by 1,383.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Qiagen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its holdings in Qiagen by 998.9% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Qiagen by 260.1% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.