Are Investors Unfairly Punishing Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) previous close was $128.93 while the outstanding shares total 133.00M. The firm has a beta of 1.04, a 12-month trailing P/E ratio of 9.67, and a growth ratio of 2.96. DGX’s shares traded lower over the last trading session, losing -1.09% on 06/08/21. The shares fell to a low of $126.395 before closing at $127.52. Intraday shares traded counted 0.94 million, which was 22.12% higher than its 30-day average trading volume of 1.21M. The stock’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is 39.12, with weekly volatility at 1.46% and ATR at 2.53. The DGX stock’s 52-week price range has touched low of $103.26 and a $142.80 high.

Investors have identified the Diagnostics & Research company Quest Diagnostics Incorporated as an interesting stock but before investments are made there, an in-depth look at its trading activities will have to be conducted. The share is trading with a market value of around $16.56 billion, the company now has both obstacles and catalysts that affect them and they came from their mode of operations. With the company affected by events currently, it is a perfect time to analyze the numbers behind the firm in order to come up with a rather realistic picture of what this stock is.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) Fundamentals that are to be considered.

When analyzing a stock, the first fundamental thing to take into account is the balance sheet. How healthy the balance sheet of a company is will determine if the company will be able to carry out all its financial and non-financial obligations and also keep the faith of its investors. For DGX, the company has in raw cash 1.23 billion on their books with 2.0 million currently as liabilities. How the trend is over time is what investors should be concerned about. The company has a healthy balance sheet as their debt profile has been on an incline. In terms of their assets, the company currently has 3.0 billion total, with 1.71 billion as their total liabilities.

DGX were able to record 645.0 million as free cash flow during the 07/27/2021 quarter of the year, this saw their quarterly net cash flow reduce by 72.0 million. In cash movements, the company had a total of 731.0 million as operating cash flow.

Potential earnings growth for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX)

In order to determine the future investment potential for this stock, we will have to analyze key trends that affect it. During the 07/27/2021 quarter of the year, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated recorded a total of 2.72 billion in revenue. This figure implies that they witnessed a quarterly year/year change in their earnings with 33.01% coming in sequential stages and their sales for the 07/27/2021 quarter reducing by -10.37%.

What matters though is how it ends. When the core data for the company is broken down, then the stock sounds interesting. The company spent 1.63 billion trying to sell their products during the last quarter, with the result yielding a gross income of 1.09 billion. This allows shareholders to hold on to 133.00M with the recently reported earning now reading 3.68 cents per share. This is a figure that compared to analyst’s prediction for their 07/27/2021 (3.76 cents a share).

Having a look at the company’s valuation, the company is expected to record 7.97 total earnings per share during the next fiscal year. It is very important though to remember that the importance of trend far outweighs that of outlook. This analysis has been great and getting further updates on DGX sounds very interesting.

Is the stock of DGX attractive?

In related news, SVP, Group Exec. Clin. Fran., Doherty Catherine T. sold 8,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that recorded on May 07. The sale was performed at an average price of 139.96, for a total value of 1,194,724. As the sale deal closes, the SVP & General Counsel, PREVOZNIK MICHAEL E now sold 44,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at 6,156,643. Also, SVP & General Counsel, PREVOZNIK MICHAEL E sold 5,574 shares of the company’s stock in a deal that was recorded on Mar 10. The shares were price at an average price of 120.47 per share, with a total market value of 671,500. Following this completion of acquisition, the SVP & General Counsel, PREVOZNIK MICHAEL E now holds 801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at 92,507. In the last 6 months, insiders have changed their ownership in shares of company stock by 0.60%.

11 out of 19 analysts covering the stock have rated it a Buy, while 8 have maintained a Hold recommendation on Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. 0 analysts has assigned a Sell rating on the DGX stock. The 12-month mean consensus price target for the company’s shares has been set at $144.20.