Mizuho Increases Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $155.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective increased by Mizuho from $150.00 to $155.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $134.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.09 and a 200 day moving average of $131.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $146.85.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the business’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 transaction of $103,560.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 388,162 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during 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 raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after buying an additional 538,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $219,202,000 after buying an additional 92,542 shares during the last quarter. 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.