QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Down 8.3% – What’s Next?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) traded down 8.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.59 and last traded at $17.5350. 608,939 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,202,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 0.75.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. QuidelOrtho’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 10,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.59 per share, with a total value of $248,638.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,322.07. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.96 per share, with a total value of $239,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,489. This represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 98.6% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 463,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,642,000 after buying an additional 229,938 shares during the period. Ballast Asset Management LP increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 217.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 80,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 54,829 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,994,000 after acquiring an additional 44,242 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,625,000. Finally, Aristotle Capital Boston LLC raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 382,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,261,000 after acquiring an additional 146,956 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho is a global diagnostics company formed through the merger of Quidel Corporation and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The combined entity develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of rapid and high-throughput diagnostic solutions across immunoassay, molecular diagnostics and transfusion medicine. Its offerings span point-of-care platforms for acute care testing as well as large-scale automated systems designed for clinical laboratories and blood banks.

The company’s product range includes rapid antigen and antibody tests for infectious diseases, molecular assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification technology, and integrated immunodiagnostic analyzers.