Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $186.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,325. This represents a 22.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,500. This trade represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,014 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,556 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $323,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 232.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,137,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $171,545,000 after purchasing an additional 23,425 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,151 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,811 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $177.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.46. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $146.17 and a fifty-two week high of $182.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.32%.

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.