Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Qiagen N.V. $QGEN

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) by 13.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,998 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Qiagen were worth $3,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Qiagen by 279.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qiagen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Qiagen during the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qiagen Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE QGEN opened at $41.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 3.21. Qiagen N.V. has a 1 year low of $32.53 and a 1 year high of $57.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.88.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Qiagen had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 19.16%.The company had revenue of $492.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Qiagen N.V. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Qiagen Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 7th. This is an increase from Qiagen’s previous annual dividend of $0.26. This represents a yield of 90.0%. Qiagen’s payout ratio is currently 18.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QGEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays set a $38.00 target price on Qiagen and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $43.00 price target on Qiagen and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Qiagen in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Qiagen in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Qiagen from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qiagen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.34.

Qiagen Company Profile

Qiagen NV (NYSE: QGEN) is a global provider of sample and assay technologies designed to enable molecular testing in the fields of molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research and pharmaceutical development. The company’s solutions span the full workflow of nucleic acid and protein analysis, offering customers standardized kits, instruments and software tools that streamline the preparation, detection and quantification of DNA, RNA and proteins.

The company’s product portfolio includes nucleic acid extraction and purification systems, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents and instrumentation, digital PCR platforms, next-generation sequencing (NGS) library‐preparation kits and proteomics solutions.