Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $199.61 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.48. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.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 company earned $2.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $323,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 22,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 41,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,385,000 after acquiring an additional 3,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.