QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shares hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $9.92 and last traded at $9.96, with a volume of 2474955 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on QDEL. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $14.88.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $753.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.62 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.04.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $619.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.23 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 45.57%.The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.800-2.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 10,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares in the company, valued at $945,322.07. This represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.96 per share, with a total value of $239,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 27,775 shares in the company, valued at $665,489. The trade was a 56.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 322.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

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.