Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Boosts Position in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) by 66.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Qiagen were worth $31,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Qiagen during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in Qiagen during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Qiagen by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Qiagen by 253.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 2,851 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Qiagen by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Qiagen Price Performance

QGEN stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,317,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,720. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, 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.

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) last announced its quarterly 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. Qiagen had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 17.38%. The company had revenue of $459.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Qiagen will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Qiagen from $61.86 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Qiagen from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.48 to $51.00 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Qiagen from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Qiagen from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Qiagen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.95.

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.