Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 229,707 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 2,170.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 240,292 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 229,707 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $10,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 920,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,996,000 after acquiring an additional 16,059 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 272,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,405,000 after buying an additional 106,642 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho by 126.5% in the 4th quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 37,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,687,000 after buying an additional 21,147 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter worth $433,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. 99.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of QDEL stock opened at $24.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.32. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 52-week low of $23.77 and a 52-week high of $49.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 0.43. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 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, analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on QDEL. StockNews.com lowered shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $38.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

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.