StockNews.com Upgrades Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) to “Buy”

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

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on DGX. UBS Group lifted 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $155.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.30. The stock has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,562,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 760.7% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,603,000 after buying an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,929,000 after buying an additional 4,464 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 46.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 526,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after buying an additional 167,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.6% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.