QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Brian Blaser Acquires 10,540 Shares of Stock

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) CEO Brian Blaser bought 10,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.59 per share, for a total transaction of $248,638.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,322.07. This represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

QuidelOrtho Price Performance

QDEL stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. QuidelOrtho Corporation has a one year low of $19.50 and a one year high of $42.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of -1.42 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.91% and a negative net margin of 41.46%.The business had revenue of $723.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that QuidelOrtho Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting QuidelOrtho

Here are the key news stories impacting QuidelOrtho this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Brian Blaser purchased 10,540 shares (~$23.59 avg), increasing his stake by ~35.7% — a strong insider vote of confidence from the CEO. CEO Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: Director Matthew Strobeck bought 10,000 shares (~$23.96 avg), increasing his stake substantially — another internal signal supporting management’s view of value. Director Form 4
• Positive Sentiment: CFO Joseph Busky also bought 3,370 shares (~$23.66 avg), a meaningful increase in his ownership. Insider buys from multiple officers can signal confidence in longer-term prospects. CFO Form 4
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus: EPS $0.46 vs. $0.43 and revenue $723.6M vs. $699.8M — top-line strength was driven by Labs and global growth. This is supportive but not enough to offset other headwinds. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Company outlined a 2026 revenue target of $2.7B–$2.9B and emphasized R&D pipeline progress — positive for long-term growth, but investors are focused on near-term profitability and execution. Seeking Alpha: 2026 Revenue Target
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 guidance came in light: EPS $2.00–$2.42 vs. consensus ~ $2.49 and revenue guidance $2.7B–$2.9B vs. ~$2.8B consensus — the EPS range disappointed investors and likely drove most of the selling pressure. AAII: Why QDEL Is Down
• Negative Sentiment: Margins compressed in Q4 and management cited respiratory weakness weighing on profitability — margin recovery is central to meeting upside expectations and was highlighted in negative market commentary. Yahoo: Q4 Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Planned retirement of the CFO was announced (timing/succession details matter); leadership changes in finance can create near-term uncertainty until a successor is named. TipRanks: CFO Retirement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of QuidelOrtho from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $30.00 price objective on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on QuidelOrtho from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of QuidelOrtho in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.50.

Institutional Trading of QuidelOrtho

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 3,691.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in QuidelOrtho by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. 99.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho is a global diagnostics company formed through the merger of Quidel Corporation and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The combined entity develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of rapid and high-throughput diagnostic solutions across immunoassay, molecular diagnostics and transfusion medicine. Its offerings span point-of-care platforms for acute care testing as well as large-scale automated systems designed for clinical laboratories and blood banks.

The company’s product range includes rapid antigen and antibody tests for infectious diseases, molecular assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification technology, and integrated immunodiagnostic analyzers.