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

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on DGX. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $199.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.44. The company has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.50.

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

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved 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 buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,613 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 227,107 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,488,000 after purchasing an additional 14,361 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 119.7% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 380 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $333,000. Institutional investors 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.