QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Down 5.7% – Here’s Why

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares were down 5.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.75 and last traded at $16.6990. Approximately 77,274 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average session volume of 1,746,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on QDEL shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.62.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.41). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 45.57% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The business had revenue of $619.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the first quarter worth about $1,937,000. Tejara Capital Ltd grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd now owns 208,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,950,000 after buying an additional 102,700 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 1,026,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,864,000 after buying an additional 192,629 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 170,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,856,000 after buying an additional 53,353 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 84.1% during the first quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 1,525,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,071,000 after buying an additional 697,010 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About QuidelOrtho

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.