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

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $125.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.72. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $148.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 8.7% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 6,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 3,889 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 191,048 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,165,000 after buying an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 68,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,316,000 after buying an additional 12,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.