Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target Raised to $146.00 at UBS Group

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $139.00 to $146.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the medical research company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.19% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE DGX traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $137.49. 578,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,051,003. The business’s 50-day moving average is $128.50 and its 200-day moving average is $131.03. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $148.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 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.