Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Boosts Position in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,855 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,300 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned approximately 0.22% of QuidelOrtho worth $10,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 167.4% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 85,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 53,446 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 11.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 760,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,557,000 after purchasing an additional 76,866 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho during the third quarter worth approximately $5,156,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 25.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QDEL traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,106,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 849,211. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -244.50 and a beta of 0.11. QuidelOrtho Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.78 and a fifty-two week high of $95.02.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $742.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $796.91 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.54% and a negative net margin of 0.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 2,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.35 per share, for a total transaction of $99,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,150 shares in the company, valued at $99,652.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on QDEL. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on QuidelOrtho from $130.00 to $81.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $42.00 price target (down previously from $70.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Monday, March 4th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (down previously from $100.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.60.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.