Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, a drop 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 company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Qiagen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Qiagen by 806.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in shares of Qiagen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Qiagen by 39.8% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 853 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Qiagen in the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Qiagen by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on QGEN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $50.00) on shares of Qiagen in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC cut Qiagen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Qiagen to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Qiagen in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Qiagen Stock Up 1.4 %

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

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.