Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Shares Up 4.3% – Time to Buy?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) shares rose 4.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $246.56 and last traded at $248.0060. Approximately 324,636 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 949,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $230.20 and its 200 day moving average is $209.60.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a 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, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% 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. Insiders sold a total of 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,085,000 after buying an additional 17,987 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $410,151,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $229,522,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing used to help diagnose, monitor and manage diseases and other health conditions, serving physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.

Its services include routine blood and urine testing, advanced and esoteric diagnostics, molecular and genetic testing, anatomic pathology, cancer testing, drug screening and wellness-related assessments.