QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL Shares Bought by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. raised its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 170,018 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 53,353 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.25% of QuidelOrtho worth $4,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 529.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 69,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after purchasing an additional 24,031 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $17.25 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04 and a beta of 0.92. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.45 and a 52 week high of $38.99.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. QuidelOrtho’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on QDEL shares. UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 3,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,461.40. This trade represents a 48.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the business’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 acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,322.07. The trade was a 35.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.