QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $43.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $39.94, but opened at $43.80. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $41.52, with a volume of 324,626 shares trading hands.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on QDEL. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $291,667,061.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,083,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,285,000 after buying an additional 162,758 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 24,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at $34,171,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,406,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,666,000 after purchasing an additional 173,174 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Trading Up 4.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.28 and its 200-day moving average is $42.35. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 0.08.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

About QuidelOrtho

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.