Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $241.01 and last traded at $241.07, with a volume of 36950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.