Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Shares Gap Up to $130.09

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $130.09, but opened at $135.00. Quest Diagnostics shares last traded at $135.14, with a volume of 289,912 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 5.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.32 and its 200 day moving average is $130.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $140,472,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $83,070,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after buying an additional 538,377 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,342,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently 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.