Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

DGX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $170.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.46. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $144.87 and a 1-year high of $182.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.41.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This trade represents a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,353 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,510 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.