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

StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DGX opened at $136.88 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.78. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.