Reviewing Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) and Astrana Health (NASDAQ:ASTH) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.1% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.8% of Astrana Health shares are held by institutional investors. 8.2% of Quest Diagnostics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.0% of Astrana Health shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Quest Diagnostics has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrana Health has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Quest Diagnostics and Astrana Health, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quest Diagnostics	0	10	7	0	2.41
Astrana Health	2	1	8	0	2.55

Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus target price of $197.27, indicating a potential upside of 12.99%. Astrana Health has a consensus target price of $41.33, indicating a potential upside of 45.39%. Given Astrana Health’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Astrana Health is more favorable than Quest Diagnostics.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Quest Diagnostics and Astrana Health”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quest Diagnostics	$10.85 billion	1.79	$871.00 million	$8.52	20.49
Astrana Health	$2.90 billion	0.55	$43.15 million	$0.19	149.63

Quest Diagnostics has higher revenue and earnings than Astrana Health. Quest Diagnostics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Astrana Health, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Quest Diagnostics and Astrana Health’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quest Diagnostics	8.91%	15.47%	6.84%
Astrana Health	0.33%	1.26%	0.60%

Summary

Quest Diagnostics beats Astrana Health on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services. It offers diagnostic information services primarily under the Quest Diagnostics brand, as well as under the AmeriPath, Dermpath Diagnostics, ExamOne, and Quanum brands to physicians, hospitals, patients and consumers, health plans, government agencies, employers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies and insurers, and accountable care organizations through a network of laboratories, patient service centers, phlebotomists in physician offices, call centers and mobile phlebotomists, nurses, and other health and wellness professionals. The company also provides risk assessment services for the life insurance industry; and healthcare organizations and clinicians information technology solutions. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.

About Astrana Health

Astrana Health, Inc., Inc., a physician-centric technology-powered healthcare management company, provides medical care services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Care Partners, Care Delivery, and Care Enablement. The company is leveraging its proprietary population health management and healthcare delivery platform, operates an integrated, value-based healthcare model which empowers the providers in its network to deliver care to its patients. It offers care coordination services to patients, families, primary care physicians, specialists, acute care hospitals, alternative sites of inpatient care, physician groups, and health plans. The company's physician network consists of primary care physicians, specialist physicians and extenders, and hospitalists. It serves patients, primarily covered by private or public insurance, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and health maintenance organization plans; and non-insured patients. The company was formerly known as Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Astrana Health, Inc. in February 2024. Astrana Health, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Alhambra, California.