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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $126.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.75. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 37.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total transaction of $703,349.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,599 shares in the company, valued at $8,809,145.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of 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. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 97.5% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 3,889 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.4% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% during the first 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 last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently 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.