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 published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.2%

DGX opened at $201.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.90. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the third quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.