QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Down 8.3% – Should You Sell?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares fell 8.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $17.59 and last traded at $17.5350. 608,939 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,202,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on QDEL shares. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.04.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. QuidelOrtho’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 10,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares in the company, valued at $945,322.07. The trade was a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 3,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction of $79,734.20. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares in the company, valued at $243,461.40. This represents a 48.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1,218.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 80,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after acquiring an additional 74,112 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 228,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,987,000 after purchasing an additional 21,968 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 210.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 20,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 5.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 428,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after buying an additional 12,668 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho is a global diagnostics company formed through the merger of Quidel Corporation and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The combined entity develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of rapid and high-throughput diagnostic solutions across immunoassay, molecular diagnostics and transfusion medicine. Its offerings span point-of-care platforms for acute care testing as well as large-scale automated systems designed for clinical laboratories and blood banks.

The company’s product range includes rapid antigen and antibody tests for infectious diseases, molecular assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification technology, and integrated immunodiagnostic analyzers.