Key Points
- Insider sale: Director Gary Pfeiffer sold 1,203 Quest Diagnostics shares for approximately $292,329 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his stake by 3.88%.
- Strong quarterly results: Quest Diagnostics reported adjusted earnings of $3.00 per share, exceeding estimates of $2.87, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.10 billion.
- Market outlook: Analysts give the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $248.70; Quest also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.86, yielding about 1.4% annually.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) Director Gary Pfeiffer sold 1,203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.00, for a total value of $292,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,241,886. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.2%
Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $245.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $238.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.27. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $249.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 16.21%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 34.26%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (a)" rating to a "buy (a+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.70.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on DGX
Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $439,753,000 after acquiring an additional 582,797 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $410,151,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,085,000 after purchasing an additional 17,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 942,407 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $199,743,000 after purchasing an additional 95,804 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.
About Quest Diagnostics
(
Get Free Report)
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers diagnose, treat and monitor diseases and health conditions. Its services include routine blood and other specimen testing, pathology, molecular and genetic testing, and specialized diagnostic services.
Quest Diagnostics serves a broad range of customers, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.
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