Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Citigroup from $30.00 to $13.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.91% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of QuidelOrtho stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $11.03. 4,456,378 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,123. QuidelOrtho has a 1 year low of $10.21 and a 1 year high of $38.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.58 and its 200 day moving average is $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $750.80 million, a PE ratio of -0.66 and a beta of 0.75.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.41). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.The company had revenue of $619.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.800-2.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,489. The trade was a 56.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 3,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.66 per share, with a total value of $79,734.20. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,461.40. This represents a 48.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of QDEL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 1,218.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 80,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after acquiring an additional 74,112 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 10.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 228,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,987,000 after acquiring an additional 21,968 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 210.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho in the second quarter valued at $1,313,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 250.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting QuidelOrtho this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted the planned acquisition of LEX Diagnostics and said it should accelerate growth in point?of?care molecular diagnostics, supporting longer?term revenue potential. PR Newswire
• Positive Sentiment: Company noted upcoming U.S. and international product launches that could drive future top?line recovery if respiratory testing demand normalizes. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Full?year revenue guidance was reiterated roughly in the $2.7B–$2.8B range, near consensus, which limits downside if execution holds. PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released the slide deck and call transcript; investors can review management commentary and guidance detail on the call for color on margins and seasonality. Slide Deck / Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 results missed expectations: GAAP EPS of ($0.04) vs. consensus ~$0.37 and revenue of $619.8M vs. consensus ~$665M — revenue fell ~10.5% YoY, driven by a much weaker respiratory testing season, which pressured top line and investor sentiment. Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Margins and cash flow were pressured (net margin turned negative and ROE weakened), and management set FY?2026 EPS guidance of $1.80–$2.00, below consensus (~$2.17), signaling slower near?term earnings recovery. MarketBeat / Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Heightened trading volume and large share turnover suggest elevated investor concern and potential continued volatility while the market digests how quickly respiratory demand and margins can normalize. Yahoo Finance

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.