Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

DGX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $189.27 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $197.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $181.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.92. The company has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.64.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.56%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the sale, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,410,745.50. This trade represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.