QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on QDEL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $665,489. The trade was a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 10,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,322.07. The trade was 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 have bought 24,660 shares of company stock valued at $589,175. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QDEL. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 100.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $22.74 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $19.50 and a 1-year high of $41.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.40 and a 200-day moving average of $27.66.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.