Short Interest in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Drops By 17.6%

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the January 15th total of 4,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,886.86. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on QDEL shares. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.89. 844,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 940,455. QuidelOrtho has a 1 year low of $29.74 and a 1 year high of $49.56. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.38 and a beta of 0.08.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 72.84% and a positive return on equity of 3.78%. On average, research analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.