Private Management Group Inc. Sells 11,241 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Private Management Group Inc. reduced its position in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 615,464 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,241 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. owned approximately 0.92% of QuidelOrtho worth $27,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of QDEL. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 25,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter worth about $74,000. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 91,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,057,000 after acquiring an additional 28,431 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in 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. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 344.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,995 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the firm's 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 owned by corporate insiders.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

QDEL traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.89. The company had a trading volume of 767,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 828,934. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.29. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $29.74 and a 12-month high of $69.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.08.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $642.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on QDEL shares. Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.43.

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.