Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $127.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $14.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $148.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total value of $703,349.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,809,145.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.