Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $137.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.08. The company has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $148.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $20,441,000 after purchasing an additional 75,315 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,327 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.