Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $155.04 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.83. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $160.95. The firm 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,783,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after buying an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.