Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $250.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Quest Diagnostics traded as high as $240.13 and last traded at $235.2560, with a volume of 1611950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.84.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $25.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $205.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

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.