Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $144.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.04. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $145.62.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics 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 approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 119,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,336,000 after purchasing an additional 9,545 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,266,000. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 9,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.