Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $37.63 and last traded at $37.85, with a volume of 862875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Qiagen Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.61. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.80.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 152.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Qiagen by 148.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.