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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $165.32 and last traded at $165.09, with a volume of 54117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $154.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.46. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $201,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,024 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 55,846 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,670,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.