Skylands Capital LLC Sells 36,250 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Skylands Capital LLC cut its holdings in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,250 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC owned approximately 0.12% of QuidelOrtho worth $3,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter worth about $605,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 229,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,481,000 after acquiring an additional 33,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,907,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000,000 after acquiring an additional 275,522 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,256,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,290,000 after acquiring an additional 274,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter worth about $301,000. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other QuidelOrtho news, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 6,033 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QDEL opened at $40.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 0.08. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 52 week low of $29.74 and a 52 week high of $49.45.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released 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 72.84% and a positive return on equity of 3.78%. Equities analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on QDEL shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Citigroup upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

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.