Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $146.67.

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $137.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 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.