Brokerages Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) PT at $178.23

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $178.23.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.7 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $172.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.41. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $125.42 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The firm has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,811 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.