Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $146.17.

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $134.26 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $146.85.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.22%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,930,712. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total value of $703,349.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,809,145.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after buying an additional 62,114 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 18,533 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 valued at $243,884,000 after acquiring an additional 538,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $219,202,000 after acquiring an additional 92,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.