Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 41,514 Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 53.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,153 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,514 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of QuidelOrtho worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in QDEL. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 322.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 250.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Trading Up 7.7%

Shares of QuidelOrtho stock opened at $16.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.17. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 1 year low of $14.45 and a 1 year high of $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 3,370 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 48.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.59 per share, with a total value of $248,638.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,322.07. This represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QDEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

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.