By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $172.15.
DGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased 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. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 3.0 %
Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $159.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90.
Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.
Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics
In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 38,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,066,000. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. 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.
Further Reading
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