Insider Buying: QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Purchases 6,033 Shares of Stock

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.42 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QDEL stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.35. 567,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,602. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.08. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 12-month low of $29.74 and a 12-month high of $75.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $642.16 million. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised shares of QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in QDEL. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in QuidelOrtho by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 5.1% during the second quarter. Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 46,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 18,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

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.