Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $168.00 to $175.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.51% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $162.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.66. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $167.08. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.