Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives $177.69 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $178.23.

Several research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total transaction of $90,794.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,109,826.76. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after buying an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,447,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $172.44 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $123.66 and a 52-week high of $172.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $157.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.