Mizuho Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Mizuho in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $165.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Mizuho’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 25.45% from the stock’s current price.

DGX has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.91.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $131.53 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $120.40 and a 12 month high of $158.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical research company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.08. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $200,109.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,577,604.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,412,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 548.7% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,125,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $149,673,000 after purchasing an additional 952,037 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,014,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,917,961,000 after purchasing an additional 636,301 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,101,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,778,000. Institutional investors own 88.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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Quest Diagnostics, Inc engages in the provision of diagnostic testing, information and services. It operates through the Diagnostic Information Services (DIS) and All Other segments. The DIS segment offers diagnostic information services to patients, clinicians, hospitals, health plans, and employers.