Analysts Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Target Price at $146.17

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGXGet Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $146.17.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup upped 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, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on DGX

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the firm’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 value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the firm’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 value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total transaction of $703,349.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,599 shares in the company, valued at $8,809,145.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,928 shares of company stock valued at $1,656,062 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

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

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE DGX opened at $141.28 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $134.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.03.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGXGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.38%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)

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