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

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of DGX opened at $235.26 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $166.75 and a 52-week high of $240.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.52. The company has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The company’s 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, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after buying an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $1,024,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after buying an additional 110,280 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,460,000 after acquiring an additional 16,194 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 460,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,950,000 after acquiring an additional 29,084 shares during the period. 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.