Royal Bank of Canada Lowers QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Price Target to $61.00

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $64.00 to $61.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 50.36% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on QDEL. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QDEL stock opened at $40.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. QuidelOrtho has a 12 month low of $29.74 and a 12 month high of $49.56.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. On average, research analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $291,667,061.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 7,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 188.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

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.