QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.43.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on QDEL shares. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group started coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 43,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 1.0% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 46,846 shares of the company's stock worth $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 18,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 5.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of QDEL stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.55. The company had a trading volume of 470,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 986,022. QuidelOrtho has a 12-month low of $29.74 and a 12-month high of $75.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.60 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.71 and a 200-day moving average of $40.22.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $727.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $642.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.