QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Price Target Raised to $45.00

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on QDEL. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $40.57 on Thursday. QuidelOrtho has a 1-year low of $29.74 and a 1-year high of $49.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.08.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share 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, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total value of $291,667,061.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 188.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter worth $74,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 122.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

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.