QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $16.80 and last traded at $16.7210, with a volume of 74579 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price target on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.01 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.50.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 41.46% and a positive return on equity of 5.91%. The firm had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at QuidelOrtho

In other QuidelOrtho news, CFO Joseph M. Busky bought 3,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.66 per share, for a total transaction of $79,734.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,461.40. The trade was a 48.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser bought 10,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.59 per share, with a total value of $248,638.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,322.07. This represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 23,910 shares of company stock valued at $567,973 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 98.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 463,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,642,000 after acquiring an additional 229,938 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 217.7% in the third quarter. Ballast Asset Management LP now owns 80,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after purchasing an additional 54,829 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the third quarter valued at about $7,625,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 34.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 173,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 44,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aristotle Capital Boston LLC grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 62.4% during the third quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 382,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,261,000 after purchasing an additional 146,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

About QuidelOrtho

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.