QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock Price Down 6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) were down 6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $31.87 and last traded at $33.2690. Approximately 419,111 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 863,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on QDEL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.20.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.96 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.67.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $180,335.20. This trade represents a 221.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 23,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the chief executive officer owned 29,533 shares in the company, valued at $630,234.22. This trade represents a 389.52% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 29,390 shares of company stock valued at $657,340. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 87.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,906,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,604,000 after buying an additional 1,352,503 shares during the period. Newtyn Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,515,000 after purchasing an additional 994,332 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 201.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 941,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,130,000 after purchasing an additional 629,246 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 46.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,385,000 after acquiring an additional 529,770 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 23.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,841,000 after buying an additional 510,291 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.