UBS Group Raises Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $166.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $165.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.75.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of DGX opened at $157.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $120.87 and a 52-week high of $159.94.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.