Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives $196.31 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $196.3125.

Several equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $191.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $183.46 and its 200 day moving average is $178.56. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $148.70 and a fifty-two week high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. The trade was a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total value of $270,316.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,214.40. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 38,118 shares of company stock valued at $7,127,684 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $388,724,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $238,122,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares during the period. M&G PLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% during the second quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,090,000 after purchasing an additional 771,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,012,534,000 after buying an additional 493,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.