QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price Up 9.5% – What’s Next?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shot up 9.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $16.81 and last traded at $16.6840. 217,809 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,285,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on QDEL. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on 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, UBS Group set a $30.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Stock Up 7.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.79.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.QuidelOrtho’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 3,370 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction of $79,734.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,461.40. The trade was a 48.70% 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, Director Matthew Strobeck purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the purchase, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QDEL. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at $280,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,832,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,925,000 after acquiring an additional 819,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,470,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,122,000 after purchasing an additional 563,893 shares in the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,260,000. Finally, Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 316,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 84,283 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.