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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) 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.

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:DGX) 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

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.