Morgan Stanley Upgrades Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) to “Overweight”

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $172.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $145.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 13.72% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on DGX. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $151.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.65.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 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.