Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

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

Several other research firms also recently commented on DGX. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $189.27 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.84.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This trade represents a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,771 shares of company stock worth $12,588,676. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $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 buying an additional 122 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.