Truist Financial Boosts Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $150.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price target increased by Truist Financial from $145.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on DGX. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a market perform rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $134.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $129.09 and its 200 day moving average is $131.17. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $146.85.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after purchasing an additional 388,162 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after purchasing an additional 62,114 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $219,202,000 after purchasing an additional 92,542 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by 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.