Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives $150.58 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $154.33.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $154.81 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $155.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.30 and its 200 day moving average is $137.53.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.