Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Price

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Mizuho from $210.00 to $235.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 12.27% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on DGX. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.93.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $209.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.96. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $157.20 and a 52-week high of $210.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at $23,158,665.60. The trade was a 31.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,410,745.50. This trade represents a 51.34% 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 have sold 64,289 shares of company stock worth $12,318,360. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.