Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $495,000 Position in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 322.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 250.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QDEL opened at $17.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.40 and a 200-day moving average of $19.64. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.92 and a 12 month high of $35.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -0.97 and a beta of 0.69.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.41). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 45.57% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $619.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.800-2.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

QDEL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.62.

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.