Redburn Atlantic Begins Coverage on Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)

Equities researchers at Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Redburn Atlantic’s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on DGX. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of DGX opened at $170.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.44. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $178.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 159.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,166,000 after purchasing an additional 16,958 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 625.8% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 27,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 23,832 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,698,000. 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.