Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on DGX. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE DGX opened at $155.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.75. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $160.95. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.