Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on DGX. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.54.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $196.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $164.65 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $199.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Paradiem LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $13,652,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,713,000. TKG Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.