Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) PT Raised to $144.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Barclays from $138.00 to $144.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.25% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $134.26 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.17. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $146.85.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,472,000. Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,070,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,884,000 after acquiring an additional 538,377 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $433,153,000 after acquiring an additional 388,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,342,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.