Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

DGX opened at $206.59 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $165.78 and a one year high of $219.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $201.19 and its 200-day moving average is $196.73. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tema ETFs LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 31,508 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,678,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the period. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 14,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,967,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,295 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.