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

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on DGX. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $194.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.13. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $164.65 and a twelve month high of $213.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.