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

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.75.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.2 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $157.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,445,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $120.87 and a 52-week high of $159.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.48.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.