QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• QuidelOrtho's shares experienced a gap down at the market open, falling from a previous close of $29.60 to an open of $28.45.
• Equity analysts have downgraded the company's outlook, with Citigroup lowering its price target from $40.00 to $33.00 and UBS reducing it from $29.00 to $26.00.
• Despite a reported quarterly earnings beat, QuidelOrtho faced a revenue decline of 3.6% year-over-year, highlighting ongoing financial challenges.

Shares of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.60, but opened at $28.45. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $28.42, with a volume of 148,622 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.80.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.32 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $27.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.78.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.11. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 5.29%. The firm had revenue of $613.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.9% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,447,188 shares of the company's stock worth $400,309,000 after purchasing an additional 208,362 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,813,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,370,000 after purchasing an additional 366,387 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,841,000 after purchasing an additional 510,291 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in QuidelOrtho by 230.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,655,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,590 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,915,648 shares of the company's stock worth $55,209,000 after buying an additional 327,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company's stock.

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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