QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s share price fell 7.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $12.11 and last traded at $11.9750. 822,999 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 1,700,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on QDEL. Wall Street Zen cut QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.25.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.21 and its 200 day moving average is $24.61. The firm has a market cap of $765.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.67 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuidelOrtho

In related news, Director Matthew Strobeck purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at $665,489. This trade represents a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 3,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,832,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,925,000 after purchasing an additional 819,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,470,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,122,000 after purchasing an additional 563,893 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,859,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,208,000 after purchasing an additional 350,636 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,704,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,236,000 after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newtyn Management LLC grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 58.3% during the third 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 during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently 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.