QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $19.50 and last traded at $19.61, with a volume of 662825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QDEL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $30.00 target price on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -1.13 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 10,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.59 per share, with a total value of $248,638.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares in the company, valued at $945,322.07. The trade was a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 3,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction of $79,734.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have acquired a total of 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 51,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.