Franklin Resources Inc. Makes New Investment in QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 6.8% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 5,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,335.20. This represents a 221.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 23,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.34 per share, for a total transaction of $501,490.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 29,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,234.22. The trade was a 389.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 28,640 shares of company stock valued at $636,138 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

QDEL stock opened at $27.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.63 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.54. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.50 and a twelve month high of $49.45.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $699.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.45 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 42.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.75%. QuidelOrtho’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have 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, QuidelOrtho currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $38.20.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.