Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Leerink Partners

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by Leerink Partners from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $174.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $169.00. Leerink Partners’ price target points to a potential upside of 14.53% from the stock’s previous close.

DGX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $151.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.65. The stock has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.