Quest Diagnostics’ (DGX) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $194.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $179.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $146.17 and a one year high of $185.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.05 and its 200 day moving average is $172.77.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% 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. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,269 shares in the company, valued at $2,824,765. The trade was a 11.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787 over the last 90 days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 88.6% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,167 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,341,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $591,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 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.