Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on DGX. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. SVB Leerink began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $134.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $146.85.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.22%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 88.06% of the stock is 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.