Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $207.44 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $200.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.50. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $165.30 and a 52 week high of $219.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.