Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Barclays from $175.00 to $185.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.16% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $175.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $168.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.81. The company has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $134.05 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Clean Yield Group increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $10,345,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.