Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target Increased to $155.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $137.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.69 and a 200-day moving average of $131.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $148.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change 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 was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.92%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.2% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at $243,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at $269,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 28,842 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.