Short Interest in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Drops By 16.1%

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,650,000 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 3,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Qiagen Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:QGEN traded down $0.18 on Thursday, reaching $39.47. 305,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,018,099. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.73, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Qiagen has a 12 month low of $37.63 and a 12 month high of $49.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.33.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts predict that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Qiagen by 152.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Qiagen by 148.0% during the fourth 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 period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on QGEN. Morgan Stanley reissued 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price target (up from $40.83) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Baird R W cut shares of Qiagen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of Qiagen from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $52.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.71.

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.