Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target Raised to $190.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective lifted by Evercore ISI from $185.00 to $190.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Baird R W cut Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.63.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE DGX opened at $184.28 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.21 and its 200 day moving average is $175.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $146.91 and a 12 month high of $191.49. The stock has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total value of $42,705.51. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,765. The trade was a 11.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth about $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.