Short Interest in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Decreases By 15.6%

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,590,000 shares, a decline of 15.6% from the May 15th total of 3,070,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Qiagen from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.95.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Qiagen by 12.0% in the third quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 18,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Qiagen in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $266,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Qiagen by 140.3% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 40,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 23,569 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Qiagen during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,069,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Qiagen by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 103,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,174,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Qiagen Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:QGEN opened at $42.34 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Qiagen has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $47.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.42.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $459.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.91 million. Qiagen had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 17.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.