Zacks Research Downgrades QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) to Strong Sell

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on QuidelOrtho from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on QuidelOrtho from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.62.

QuidelOrtho Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ QDEL opened at $15.09 on Wednesday. QuidelOrtho has a 52 week low of $9.92 and a 52 week high of $35.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.18. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 39.20% and a positive return on equity of 4.88%. The company had revenue of $630.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $618.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. QuidelOrtho’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. QuidelOrtho has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY purchased a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,168,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the second quarter worth about $419,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the second quarter worth about $2,275,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the second quarter valued at approximately $196,212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.