Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) PT Raised to $155.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its target price increased by Mizuho from $150.00 to $155.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $137.55 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $148.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.08. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.92%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after buying an additional 75,315 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,517,000 after buying an additional 333,947 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently 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.