Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Leerink Partnrs

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

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $154.02 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,432 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 31,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. 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.