QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QDEL opened at $42.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. QuidelOrtho has a one year low of $29.74 and a one year high of $69.83.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 66.25%. The business had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total value of $291,667,061.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho in the third quarter worth about $605,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 17.1% in the third quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 229,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,481,000 after acquiring an additional 33,588 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 16.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,907,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000,000 after acquiring an additional 275,522 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 28.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,256,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,290,000 after acquiring an additional 274,633 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.