Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Redburn Atlantic

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was downgraded by equities researchers at Redburn Atlantic from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

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

Qiagen Price Performance

NYSE:QGEN opened at $38.24 on Friday. Qiagen has a 12-month low of $37.63 and a 12-month high of $49.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.96. The company has a quick ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Qiagen by 8,074.0% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 31,817,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,844,000 after buying an additional 32,216,761 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Qiagen by 77.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,250,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,386,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293,040 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Qiagen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,529,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Qiagen by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 25,319,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,127,470,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at $95,746,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qiagen Company Profile

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.