QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Trading Up 5.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• QuidelOrtho's stock experienced a 5.3% increase, trading at $28.75, following a previous close of $27.31, though trading volume was down 81% compared to its average.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for QuidelOrtho, with Citigroup setting a new target of $33.00, down from $40.00, while UBS Group cut their target from $29.00 to $26.00.
• QuidelOrtho's latest quarterly earnings report showed earnings of $0.12 per share, exceeding estimates, although revenue declined 3.6% year-over-year.

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report) shares were up 5.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.37 and last traded at $28.75. Approximately 252,983 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,305,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on QDEL shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $33.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $37.80.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.37 and a beta of 0.27. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $27.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.47.

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

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.9% during 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 10.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,813,833 shares of the company's stock worth $133,370,000 after purchasing an additional 366,387 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 23.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,700,940 shares of the company's stock worth $77,841,000 after purchasing an additional 510,291 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 230.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,655,576 shares of the company's stock worth $90,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,590 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 20.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,915,648 shares of the company's stock worth $55,209,000 after purchasing an additional 327,003 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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