QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Reaches New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.32 and last traded at $11.7370, with a volume of 2332294 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on QDEL. Citigroup increased 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 lowered their target price on QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $28.25.

QuidelOrtho Trading Up 0.2%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $865.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 0.92.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.The firm had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. QuidelOrtho’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at $665,489. This trade represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 3,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.66 per share, with a total value of $79,734.20. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 10,290 shares in the company, valued at $243,461.40. This represents a 48.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 51,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

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.