Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $164.58.

A number of analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 46,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,177,000 after purchasing an additional 12,105 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,124,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 892.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 19,044 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $160.39 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.26. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $162.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.