Mizuho Raises Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $174.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its price target hoisted by Mizuho from $160.00 to $174.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $155.04 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $160.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during 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.