American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Position in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 10.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,115,557 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 199,909 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.11% of QuidelOrtho worth $62,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Tableaux LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.96 per share, with a total value of $239,600.00. Following 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 24,660 shares of company stock valued at $589,175. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of QDEL opened at $21.19 on Thursday. 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 $27.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.56. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.50 and a twelve month high of $41.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -1.27 and a beta of 0.75.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

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.