Morgan Stanley Reiterates “Equal Weight” Rating for Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $48.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $50.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.64% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Qiagen Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE QGEN opened at $45.01 on Monday. Qiagen has a 1 year low of $39.03 and a 1 year high of $47.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.86. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.41, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Qiagen by 170.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Qiagen by 36.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,604,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,096,000 after buying an additional 424,937 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Qiagen in the third quarter worth approximately $490,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Qiagen during the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Qiagen by 24.8% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 3,878 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qiagen Company Profile

QIAGEN N.V. offers sample to insight solutions that transform biological materials into molecular insights worldwide. The company provides primary sample technology consumables, such as nucleic stabilization and purification kits for primary sample materials, manual and automated processing for genotyping, gene expression, and viral and bacterial analysis, as well as silica membranes and magnetic bead technologies; secondary sample technology consumables, including kits and components for purification of nucleic acids from secondary sample materials; and instruments for nucleic acid purification and accessories.