Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $210.2857.

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $227,566.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,371 shares in the company, valued at $7,859,531.93. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $293,521.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,004,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 394,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,778,000 after acquiring an additional 47,382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.6%

DGX opened at $211.21 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $157.20 and a one year high of $213.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

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 paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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

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.