Stephens Inc. AR Acquires Shares of 14,915 QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 122.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,437 shares of the company's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 4,460.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the company's stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 4,460 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on QDEL. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "hold" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ QDEL traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $40.74. 170,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 916,821. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of -1.46 and a beta of 0.08. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 12 month low of $29.74 and a 12 month high of $49.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.41 and a 200-day moving average of $42.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 66.25%. As a group, analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 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, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were 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. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

QuidelOrtho 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.