QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.50.

Several brokerages recently commented on QDEL. Zacks Research cut QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 3,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction of $79,734.20. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,461.40. The trade was a 48.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders acquired a total of 24,660 shares of company stock valued at $589,175 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $22.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.66. QuidelOrtho has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $41.40. 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 (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. QuidelOrtho’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts expect that QuidelOrtho 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.