Short Interest in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Increases By 27.6%

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,350,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the January 31st total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

QuidelOrtho Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of QDEL traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.80. The stock had a trading volume of 640,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 934,967. QuidelOrtho has a fifty-two week low of $29.74 and a fifty-two week high of $49.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.10. 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 (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,238,826 shares of the company's stock worth $500,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,667 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,817,412 shares of the company's stock worth $303,716,000 after purchasing an additional 764,900 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 15.2% in the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company's stock worth $191,520,000 after purchasing an additional 554,410 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 71.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,447,446 shares of the company's stock worth $153,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,977,697 shares of the company's stock worth $88,106,000 after purchasing an additional 100,522 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on QDEL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.