Merrill Lynch keeps Qiagen at sell

Qiagen was maintained by Merrill Lynch analyst Erica Whittaker at a sell rating after third-quarter results missed forecasts and consensus at the top line and operating profitability, but were in line with net income forecasts due to a lower tax charge. A sales shortfall was explained by delayed launches of new instruments by Qiagen's OEM partners and a continued weak research-tools market in Japan. The company is trading at a significant premium to its U.S. peers in the research tools business, and Merrill Lynch's CF valuation of $9, or €8.00, per share using an 11% WACC suggests potential downside risk to the current share price. Through its subsidiaries, the company, based in Venlo, the Netherlands, provides enabling products and technologies for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins. Shares were down $0.31, or 2.58%, at $11.69 on volume of 489,180 shares versus the three-month running average of 202,435 shares.

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