Carlyle Group Inc. Sells 8,260,183 Shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) Stock

QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.31, for a total transaction of $291,667,061.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

Shares of QDEL stock opened at $40.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.49 and a 200-day moving average of $40.36. QuidelOrtho Co. has a one year low of $29.74 and a one year high of $75.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of -1.44 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.55. QuidelOrtho had a negative net margin of 66.25% and a positive return on equity of 4.24%. The company had revenue of $727.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $642.16 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 907.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 826 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 27.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 17,095.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 3,419 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QDEL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Craig Hallum upgraded QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on QuidelOrtho in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.83.

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.