QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus "Reduce" rating on QuidelOrtho (6 brokerages: 3 sell, 2 hold, 1 buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $28.25, and several firms have recently cut or revised targets (UBS to $17, Citi to $30).
• Shares opened at $12.71 and trade well below the 50‑day ($19.22) and 200‑day ($24.96) moving averages; the company has a market cap of $865M and a negative P/E of -0.76.
• Insiders (including a director and the CFO) bought stock in February while institutional ownership sits at about 99%, with large funds like Invesco, Goldman Sachs and T. Rowe Price materially increasing positions.

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.25.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $30.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QDEL stock opened at $12.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.22 and a 200-day moving average of $24.96. The company has a market cap of $865.30 million, a P/E ratio of -0.76 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.90. QuidelOrtho has a one year low of $11.61 and a one year high of $38.99.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $723.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Strobeck acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.96 per share, for a total transaction of $239,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 27,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,489. This represents a 56.26% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph M. Busky acquired 3,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.66 per share, with a total value of $79,734.20. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $243,461.40. The trade was a 48.70% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 23,910 shares of company stock worth $567,973. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 87.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,906,763 shares of the company's stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 1,352,503 shares during the last quarter. Newtyn Management LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 58.3% during the third quarter. Newtyn Management LLC now owns 2,700,000 shares of the company's stock worth $79,515,000 after buying an additional 994,332 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,755,401 shares of the company's stock worth $50,134,000 after buying an additional 883,077 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,832,098 shares of the company's stock worth $337,925,000 after buying an additional 819,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 222.0% during the fourth quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 833,791 shares of the company's stock worth $23,813,000 after buying an additional 574,877 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company's stock.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

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.

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