Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) – What Are Brokerages Saying About This Stock?

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $237.85.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX traded down $4.28 on Friday, reaching $234.87. The company had a trading volume of 799,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,648. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $171.18 and a 1 year high of $248.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $237.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.35.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. This trade 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 valued at $8,316,493 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank OZK acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,247,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,485,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $4,702,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers and other organizations diagnose, monitor and manage medical conditions.

Its services include routine blood and other clinical laboratory tests, advanced and molecular diagnostics, anatomic pathology, genetic and genomic testing, and testing related to infectious diseases. Quest also provides employer health screening, drug testing, clinical trial support and laboratory information services.