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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $169.15.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Citigroup raised their target price 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 boosted their price objective on 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 price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $150.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.45.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

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.