Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $127.41 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $148.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.78. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 $103,560.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 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.