QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Up 9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) rose 9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $15.07 and last traded at $15.0960. Approximately 830,781 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 1,438,626 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

QDEL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.25.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.97 and a beta of 0.92.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,489. This represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 3,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.66 per share, with a total value of $79,734.20. Following the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.