QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

QDEL has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group set a $30.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of QDEL traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.32. 95,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,165,428. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.30 and its 200-day moving average is $27.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.50. QuidelOrtho has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $42.21. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.46 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly 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. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The company had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew Strobeck purchased 10,000 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,489. The trade was a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,335.20. This represents a 221.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 29,800 shares of company stock worth $723,823 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QDEL. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth $280,000. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,260,000. Clearline Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 316,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after purchasing an additional 84,283 shares in the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC grew its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 391,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,193,000 after purchasing an additional 9,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,953,000. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.