767,030 Shares in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 767,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,171,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.14% of QuidelOrtho at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of QDEL. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 188.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 122.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $238,000. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on QDEL shares. StockNews.com downgraded QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 9.2 %

Shares of QDEL traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.20. 245,795 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 952,667. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 0.43. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 52 week low of $25.13 and a 52 week high of $49.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.39.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 3.78% and a negative net margin of 72.84%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

QuidelOrtho 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.