Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target Raised to $191.00 at Robert W. Baird

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $190.00 to $191.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DGX. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE DGX opened at $166.96 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.60. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total transaction of $90,794.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.