Analysts Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Price Target at $210.29

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $210.2857.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $293,521.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at $14,010,781.66. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $227,566.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,859,531.93. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $533,563,000 after purchasing an additional 208,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $211.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $188.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced 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. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.