Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $241.01 and last traded at $241.07, with a volume of 36950 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $236.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.