QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price Down 3.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) dropped 3.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $43.48 and last traded at $43.96. Approximately 48,343 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 891,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 0.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.87.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.16 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 66.25%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $291,667,061.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 128,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,714,000 after buying an additional 12,026 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 188.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 56,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter valued at $840,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 31,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.