Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,184,231 shares, an increase of 20.0% from the January 29th total of 5,988,425 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,567,910 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,567,910 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the 3rd quarter worth $179,450,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Qiagen in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,500,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the third quarter worth $58,079,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Qiagen by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,429,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,072,000 after purchasing an additional 906,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Qiagen by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,907,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,614,000 after acquiring an additional 697,342 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on QGEN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Qiagen from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $53.00 target price on Qiagen in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qiagen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Qiagen from $55.40 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qiagen currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.20.

Qiagen Price Performance

Shares of NYSE QGEN opened at $47.70 on Wednesday. Qiagen has a fifty-two week low of $39.61 and a fifty-two week high of $57.81. The company has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a current ratio of 3.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.29.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Qiagen had a net margin of 20.33% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business had revenue of $540.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $528.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Qiagen will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.