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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $216.5833.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This represents 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

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paradiem LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth about $2,026,000. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 56.0% in the third quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 275,344 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,475,000 after acquiring an additional 98,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX traded up $5.00 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $218.45. 83,997 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 943,630. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $164.65 and a twelve month high of $218.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.01%.

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.