Joseph Busky Acquires 4,770 Shares of QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) CFO Joseph Busky purchased 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.06 per share, for a total transaction of $124,306.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,335.20. This represents a 221.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 2.3%

QDEL opened at $27.50 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.20 and a beta of 0.35. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.50 and a fifty-two week high of $49.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.12.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.29. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $699.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $667.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.150 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on QDEL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $38.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 111.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after buying an additional 35,631 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,711,000. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in QuidelOrtho in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,322,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 611,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,397,000 after purchasing an additional 21,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

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.