Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on DGX. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $141.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $134.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $145.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total transaction of $703,349.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,809,145.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,928 shares of company stock worth $1,656,062 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $479,357,000 after buying an additional 62,114 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 18,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.