Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

DGX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

DGX opened at $181.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $150.99 and a 52 week high of $197.55. The stock has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.72 and a 200-day moving average of $180.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,410,745.50. The trade was a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,158,665.60. The trade was a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,318,360 in the last 90 days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $238,122,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares during the period. M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% during the 2nd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,090,000 after purchasing an additional 771,824 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.