QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price Up 11.4% – Time to Buy?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s stock price was up 11.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $13.17 and last traded at $13.5970. 181,052 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 1,810,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on QDEL shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $925.13 million, a PE ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.65 and its 200 day moving average is $20.45.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.41). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 45.57%.The firm had revenue of $619.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $665.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.800-2.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 51,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. 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.