Quest Diagnostics’ (DGX) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their buy rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $185.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $175.00.

DGX has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $156.07 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’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 directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 326.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 12,154 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 73.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after acquiring an additional 238,007 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.