QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.35, but opened at $36.17. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $34.79, with a volume of 59,222 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QDEL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.22.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued 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 negative net margin of 72.84% and a positive return on equity of 3.78%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On QuidelOrtho

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,238,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,690,000 after buying an additional 1,840,667 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,817,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,716,000 after buying an additional 764,900 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $191,520,000 after buying an additional 554,410 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,447,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,584,000 after buying an additional 1,439,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its position in QuidelOrtho by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,977,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,106,000 after acquiring an additional 100,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.