JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Price Target to $155.00

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $152.00 to $155.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partnrs restated a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.9 %

DGX opened at $141.97 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $135.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.26.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $20,441,000 after acquiring an additional 75,315 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after acquiring an additional 333,947 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 21,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.