Citigroup Increases Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $145.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.03% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on DGX. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $135.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $147.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.11. The stock has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $20,441,000 after purchasing an additional 75,315 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,327 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by 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.