Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Leerink Partners currently has $174.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $169.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on DGX. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $152.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $157.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.75. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after purchasing an additional 61,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.