Allianz Asset Management GmbH Boosts Holdings in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 98.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 463,223 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 229,938 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $13,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,841,000 after buying an additional 510,291 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 20.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,915,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,209,000 after acquiring an additional 327,003 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 46.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,385,000 after acquiring an additional 529,770 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 0.9% in the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,300,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,472,000 after acquiring an additional 11,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 59.0% in the second quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 746,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,508,000 after purchasing an additional 276,790 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 23,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.34 per share, with a total value of $501,490.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 29,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,234.22. This represents a 389.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 4,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,335.20. This trade represents a 221.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 29,390 shares of company stock valued at $657,340 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

QDEL stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.71. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 12-month low of $19.50 and a 12-month high of $43.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $699.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $667.45 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 42.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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.