QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.50 and last traded at $19.61, with a volume of 662825 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 7.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.50.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $699.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 10,540 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,322.07. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at $665,489. This trade represents a 56.26% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 24,660 shares of company stock worth $589,175 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

About QuidelOrtho

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.