QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading 8.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares shot up 8.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $11.00 to $12.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. QuidelOrtho traded as high as $19.09 and last traded at $19.0730. 203,539 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,859,724 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.51.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised QuidelOrtho from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Zacks Research upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 1.1% during the fourth 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 position in QuidelOrtho by 1.0% during the fourth 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 boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 1.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

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

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.