Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target Raised to $175.00 at Barclays

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its target price increased by Barclays from $168.00 to $175.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $162.77 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $167.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other 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.