Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $220.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $202.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.76. The stock has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $157.20 and a 12-month high of $213.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $293,521.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This trade represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 65,507 shares of company stock worth $12,702,039 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.