Analysts Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) PT at $236.31

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $236.3077.

A number of research firms have issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $247.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $232.48 and a 200 day moving average of $210.38. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,714,510.56. The trade was a 7.55% 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 sold 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during 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. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $410,151,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,085,000 after acquiring an additional 17,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $229,522,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing used to help diagnose, monitor and manage diseases and other health conditions, serving physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.

Its services include routine blood and urine testing, advanced and esoteric diagnostics, molecular and genetic testing, anatomic pathology, cancer testing, drug screening and wellness-related assessments.