Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Decreases Stock Holdings in QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in shares of QuidelOrtho Co. (NASDAQ:QDEL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,470 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in QuidelOrtho were worth $9,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 15.2% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,520,000 after buying an additional 554,410 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 16.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,907,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000,000 after buying an additional 275,522 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of QuidelOrtho by 28.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,256,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,290,000 after purchasing an additional 274,633 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $41,996,000 after purchasing an additional 16,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of QuidelOrtho in the third quarter valued at about $34,320,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian J. Blaser purchased 6,033 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,886.86. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 8,260,183 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on QDEL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, QuidelOrtho currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.20.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QDEL opened at $41.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 0.08. QuidelOrtho Co. has a 1-year low of $29.74 and a 1-year high of $49.56.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.44). QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 66.25%. On average, equities analysts expect that QuidelOrtho Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

QuidelOrtho 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.