QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading 9.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) traded up 9.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.72 and last traded at $14.8470. 152,980 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 1,832,095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $35.00 to $12.50 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.88.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 6.3%

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 firm has a market cap of $977.18 million, a PE ratio of -0.80 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.20 and its 200-day moving average is $21.56.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 29.2% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,543,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,358,000 after buying an additional 348,549 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in QuidelOrtho during the first quarter worth approximately $1,937,000. Amundi increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 50.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 20,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 6,996 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 49.7% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 92,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 30,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 3.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 254,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 7,956 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.