QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $17.25 on Friday. QuidelOrtho has a 52 week low of $14.45 and a 52 week high of $38.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.96. 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 company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.04 and a beta of 0.92.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 3,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares in the company, 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 available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.96 per share, with a total value of $239,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,489. This represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.