QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price Down 8.3% – Here’s What Happened

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s stock price was down 8.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.59 and last traded at $17.5350. Approximately 608,939 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,202,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $30.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 0.75.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $723.60 million during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.96 per share, with a total value of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,489. This represents a 56.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $945,322.07. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter worth approximately $280,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,832,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,925,000 after buying an additional 819,908 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,470,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,122,000 after buying an additional 563,893 shares in the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter valued at $1,260,000. Finally, Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 316,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after acquiring an additional 84,283 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.