Insider Buying: QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Acquires $248,638.60 in Stock

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Brian Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.59 per share, with a total value of $248,638.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 40,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $945,322.07. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ QDEL opened at $23.58 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.75. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.50 and a 12 month high of $42.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about QuidelOrtho

Here are the key news stories impacting QuidelOrtho this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Brian Blaser purchased 10,540 shares (~$23.59 avg), increasing his stake by ~35.7% — a strong insider vote of confidence from the CEO. CEO Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares (~$23.96 avg), increasing his stake substantially — another internal signal supporting management’s view of value. Director Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: CFO Joseph Busky also bought 3,370 shares (~$23.66 avg), a meaningful increase in his ownership. Insider buys from multiple officers can signal confidence in longer-term prospects. CFO Form 4
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus: EPS $0.46 vs. $0.43 and revenue $723.6M vs. $699.8M — top-line strength was driven by Labs and global growth. This is supportive but not enough to offset other headwinds. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Company outlined a 2026 revenue target of $2.7B–$2.9B and emphasized R&D pipeline progress — positive for long-term growth, but investors are focused on near-term profitability and execution. Seeking Alpha: 2026 Revenue Target
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 guidance came in light: EPS $2.00–$2.42 vs. consensus ~ $2.49 and revenue guidance $2.7B–$2.9B vs. ~$2.8B consensus — the EPS range disappointed investors and likely drove most of the selling pressure. AAII: Why QDEL Is Down
• Negative Sentiment: Margins compressed in Q4 and management cited respiratory weakness weighing on profitability — margin recovery is central to meeting upside expectations and was highlighted in negative market commentary. Yahoo: Q4 Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Planned retirement of the CFO was announced (timing/succession details matter); leadership changes in finance can create near-term uncertainty until a successor is named. TipRanks: CFO Retirement

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QDEL. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 87.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,906,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352,503 shares in the last quarter. Newtyn Management LLC grew its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 58.3% in the 3rd quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,515,000 after buying an additional 994,332 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 101.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,755,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,134,000 after acquiring an additional 883,077 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 46.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,385,000 after acquiring an additional 529,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,841,000 after acquiring an additional 510,291 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $30.00 price objective on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.50.

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.