Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.15.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.8 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $151.43 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.92. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during 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 during the period. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. 88.06% of the stock is 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.