Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stock Holdings in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,935 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $7,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 463,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,642,000 after purchasing an additional 229,938 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 217.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 80,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after acquiring an additional 54,829 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 44,242 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the third quarter worth $7,625,000. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. grew its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 27.8% in the second quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 466,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 101,423 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 4,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $180,335.20. This represents a 221.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares in the company, valued at $945,322.07. This represents a 35.69% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 29,800 shares of company stock worth $723,823 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of QDEL stock opened at $23.13 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $42.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.39 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.