QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Up 9.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) were up 9.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $13.55 and last traded at $13.4890. Approximately 637,880 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 1,845,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $35.00 to $12.50 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.88.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 0.4%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.82. The company has a market cap of $887.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.73 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.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,832,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,925,000 after buying an additional 819,908 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,470,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,122,000 after acquiring an additional 563,893 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,048,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,085,000 after purchasing an additional 212,481 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,704,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,236,000 after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares during the period. Finally, Newtyn Management LLC raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 58.3% in the third quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,515,000 after purchasing an additional 994,332 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.