Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded by Leerink Partnrs to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by Leerink Partnrs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $153.78 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.85. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 9,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,144,000 after purchasing an additional 68,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.