Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $259.00 and last traded at $256.8530, with a volume of 27,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $262.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $239.34 and its 200-day moving average is $213.68. The firm has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 9.53%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This trade represents a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 22,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.02, for a total value of $5,482,482.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 71,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,844,790.98. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,985 shares of company stock worth $13,715,017. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.4% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,183 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.9% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,741 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.9% in the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 441 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 67 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 (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.