Citigroup Increases Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $145.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $134.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.23. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $146.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after buying an additional 62,114 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after buying an additional 18,533 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $219,202,000 after purchasing an additional 92,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.