QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,208 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 47,171 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of QuidelOrtho worth $14,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the third quarter valued at $605,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 229,847 shares of the company's stock worth $10,481,000 after purchasing an additional 33,588 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,907,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000,000 after purchasing an additional 275,522 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,256,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,290,000 after buying an additional 274,633 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of the business'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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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QuidelOrtho Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:QDEL traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.99. 821,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,290. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. QuidelOrtho Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.74 and a fifty-two week high of $49.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of -1.32 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.36.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on QDEL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.20.

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.