QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on QDEL. Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of QuidelOrtho stock opened at $40.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.41 and a 200 day moving average of $42.37. QuidelOrtho has a 12 month low of $29.74 and a 12 month high of $49.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. On average, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QuidelOrtho news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $291,667,061.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $249,886.86. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 7,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 188.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About QuidelOrtho

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.