QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Sold by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 85.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,848 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,923 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho during the third quarter worth $476,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 970.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 6,945 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 4,460.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,411,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:QDEL opened at $41.19 on Wednesday. QuidelOrtho Co. has a one year low of $29.74 and a one year high of $49.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36 and a beta of 0.08.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 72.84% and a positive return on equity of 3.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About QuidelOrtho

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.