UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at UBS Group from $166.00 to $170.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the medical research company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 4.02% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $163.43 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $123.18 and a 12-month high of $167.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. State Street Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 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.