Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Acquires 32,524 Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation $QDEL

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,524 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,524 shares during the quarter. QuidelOrtho accounts for approximately 3.3% of Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned about 0.73% of QuidelOrtho worth $14,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,841,000 after purchasing an additional 510,291 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,915,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,209,000 after acquiring an additional 327,003 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 46.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,678,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,385,000 after acquiring an additional 529,770 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in QuidelOrtho by 0.9% in the second quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,300,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,472,000 after acquiring an additional 11,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 59.0% in the second quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 746,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,508,000 after acquiring an additional 276,790 shares during the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

QuidelOrtho stock opened at $28.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.65 and a beta of 0.59. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.50 and a 1-year high of $46.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.91 and a 200-day moving average of $27.71.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.29. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.75% and a negative net margin of 42.53%.The company had revenue of $699.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. QuidelOrtho’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.000-2.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on QDEL shares. Zacks Research raised QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joseph M. Busky purchased 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $180,335.20. The trade was a 221.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 23,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.34 per share, with a total value of $501,490.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $630,234.22. This represents a 389.52% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased 29,390 shares of company stock valued at $657,340 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.