Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 105,378 QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 105,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,501,000. QuidelOrtho comprises about 0.6% of Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,968,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter valued at $1,326,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in QuidelOrtho by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 451,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,268,000 after buying an additional 127,800 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 23,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter worth $270,000. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QuidelOrtho Stock Down 4.5 %

QDEL stock opened at $43.36 on Thursday. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 52 week low of $29.74 and a 52 week high of $75.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 0.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.23.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.15. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 3.87% and a negative net margin of 65.60%. The business had revenue of $637.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $613.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 78,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.94, for a total value of $3,122,509.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,441,022 shares in the company, valued at $337,134,418.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,747,271 shares of company stock worth $64,316,868. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QDEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised QuidelOrtho from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho currently 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.