QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $25.85, but opened at $28.66. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $34.25, with a volume of 1,216,898 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.13. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 3.78% and a negative net margin of 72.84%. The firm had revenue of $692.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $694.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $45.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $38.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com cut QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,238,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,667 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,447,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439,293 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,171,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,817,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,716,000 after purchasing an additional 764,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 143.9% in the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,046,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,628,000 after purchasing an additional 617,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.41 and its 200-day moving average is $38.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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.