Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $200.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Quest Diagnostics traded as high as $179.16 and last traded at $178.35, with a volume of 637661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.68.

Several other research firms also recently commented on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,797,750. This trade represents a 19.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 in the last quarter. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $342,300,000 after buying an additional 26,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,823,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.