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 released on Thursday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $154.83 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $160.95. The stock has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $153.42 and a 200 day moving average of $145.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,562,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 760.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,464 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 46.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 526,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 167,623 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.6% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 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.