Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives $169.15 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $169.15.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $150.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $157.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.46. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The company has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,045 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 370,133 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $50,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 29.1% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.