Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Leerink Partnrs

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by research analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $152.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $157.03 and its 200-day moving average is $151.75. The firm has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32.

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.