Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stake in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 17.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,935 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.39% of QuidelOrtho worth $7,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 2.4% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 36,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 104,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,087,000 after buying an additional 22,025 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 175,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,159,000 after buying an additional 1,927 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 98.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 463,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,642,000 after buying an additional 229,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballast Asset Management LP raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 217.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 80,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 54,829 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of QDEL opened at $23.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.75. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.50 and a twelve month high of $42.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of -1.39 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.The business had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QDEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.50.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased 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. This trade represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 10,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,322.07. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 29,800 shares of company stock valued at $723,823 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.