Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 1,723 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,233 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $1,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in QDEL. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 7.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the third quarter valued at $262,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 279.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after buying an additional 33,432 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 89.6% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the third quarter valued at $605,000. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

NASDAQ QDEL opened at $35.93 on Friday. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 52-week low of $29.74 and a 52-week high of $49.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of -1.19 and a beta of 0.10.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 3.78% and a negative net margin of 72.84%. On average, research analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Profile

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.