Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

DGX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $234.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $206.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.35. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $166.76 and a 12-month high of $240.13. The company has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during 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 buying an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.