Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded by Leerink Partners to Outperform Rating

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $174.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $169.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on DGX. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $152.40 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.75. The company has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 9,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,144,000 after buying an additional 68,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after buying an additional 17,240 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently 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.