Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $259.00 and last traded at $256.8530, with a volume of 27,349 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $255.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.03.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 9.53%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total value of $2,427,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at $29,714,510.56. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.00, for a total transaction of $292,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,802 shares in the company, valued at $7,241,886. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,880 shares of company stock worth $8,232,534. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $712,000. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,087 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,419,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 49.9% in the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 20,005 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,663,000 after acquiring an additional 6,657 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 10,967 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers diagnose, treat and monitor diseases and health conditions. Its services include routine blood and other specimen testing, pathology, molecular and genetic testing, and specialized diagnostic services.

Quest Diagnostics serves a broad range of customers, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.