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

Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $152.40 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.75. The stock 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $74,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.