Analysts Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Price Target at $216.58

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $216.5833.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $190.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.17.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,421 shares of company stock worth $3,790,214. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.