Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

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

A number of other brokerages have also commented on DGX. Citigroup boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.08.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $158.46 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $156.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.11.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after buying an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $48,783,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position 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 buying an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $22,049,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.