Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $235.3077.

Several brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of DGX opened at $233.21 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $207.36 and a 200 day moving average of $199.75. The company has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $166.76 and a 52-week high of $240.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after buying an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.