Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $180.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $165.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.77.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $162.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $123.18 and a 52-week high of $167.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.70.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after buying an additional 108,224 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after acquiring an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,407,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.