StockNews.com Upgrades Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

DGX has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $153.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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, 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’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 owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 75.4% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 3,834 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.