UBS Group Boosts Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $146.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $139.00 to $146.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. 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 for the company. Finally, TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $134.26 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $146.85. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.17.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, 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 quarter, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.