QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Down 7.9% – Should You Sell?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s stock price was down 7.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $28.25 and last traded at $28.16. Approximately 104,107 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 1,048,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 8.1%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.65 and a beta of 0.59.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.29. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 42.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.75%. The firm had revenue of $699.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $667.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $180,335.20. The trade was a 221.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 23,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.34 per share, with a total value of $501,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $630,234.22. This represents a 389.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders bought 29,390 shares of company stock valued at $657,340. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QDEL. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. grew its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 170,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 53,353 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 51,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 529.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,202 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.