Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the third quarter valued at $605,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 17.1% during the third quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 229,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,481,000 after buying an additional 33,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 16.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,907,898 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000,000 after buying an additional 275,522 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 316.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,916 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 21,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 28.0% during 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. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 0.2 %

QuidelOrtho stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.24. 1,101,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 739,341. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 1-year low of $29.74 and a 1-year high of $71.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $642.16 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. QuidelOrtho's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 6,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by 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.