Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Short Interest Update

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, a decline of 18.0% from the December 15th total of 3,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 864,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Qiagen Stock Up 1.4 %

Qiagen stock opened at $45.89 on Friday. Qiagen has a 52 week low of $39.03 and a 52 week high of $47.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.65, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qiagen

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Qiagen by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,380,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,457,000 after purchasing an additional 90,181 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Qiagen by 5.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,426,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,001,000 after acquiring an additional 68,415 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Qiagen by 24.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 3,878 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in Qiagen by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 20,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 11,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Qiagen by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,604,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,096,000 after purchasing an additional 424,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on QGEN shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $50.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Qiagen in a research report 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 for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.