Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.73.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $231.56 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $165.78 and a 52-week high of $237.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $204.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.12. The company has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Ossiam lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.