Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Trading 1.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) traded up 1.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $172.96 and last traded at $173.06. 375,428 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 915,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,813,096.55. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth approximately $678,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 28,444 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,685 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.