Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 15,304 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL - Free Report) by 226.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,071 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,304 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 0.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 129,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 3,377.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 85,047 shares of the company's stock worth $2,974,000 after buying an additional 82,601 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 48,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,710,000 after buying an additional 11,033 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,786,000 after buying an additional 8,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 118.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 34,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company's stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QDEL opened at $29.53 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.69. QuidelOrtho Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.77 and a fifty-two week high of $49.45.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.13. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 3.78% and a negative net margin of 72.84%. The company had revenue of $692.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $694.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho's revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on QDEL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on QuidelOrtho from $38.00 to $25.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $45.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.33.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

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.

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