QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, a decrease of 17.6% from the January 15th total of 4,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Transactions at QuidelOrtho

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of QuidelOrtho stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total value of $291,667,061.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian J. Blaser acquired 6,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.42 per share, with a total value of $249,886.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $249,886.86. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QDEL. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 50,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 204.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 803,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,818,000 after acquiring an additional 539,977 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 431,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,233,000 after purchasing an additional 114,850 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 216.7% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 120,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,372,000 after purchasing an additional 82,513 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QuidelOrtho stock opened at $40.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.08. QuidelOrtho has a twelve month low of $29.74 and a twelve month high of $49.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day moving average is $42.37. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that QuidelOrtho will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

QuidelOrtho Company 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.