Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Quest Diagnostics, with five buy ratings, one strong-buy rating and seven holds. The average 12-month price target is $236.31, while several firms recently raised targets to as high as $260.
• Quest Diagnostics exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.12 in EPS versus the $2.82 consensus and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 10.2% year over year. Management set fiscal 2026 EPS guidance at $11.05–$11.25.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, equivalent to $3.44 annually and a 1.4% yield. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the stock, while insiders sold roughly $8.3 million of shares during the quarter.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $236.3077.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $237.78 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $230.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics'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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors 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 yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 10,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22,733.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,043,773 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,851,428,000 after purchasing an additional 36,881,535 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $439,753,000 after acquiring an additional 582,797 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $410,151,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,085,000 after acquiring an additional 17,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.

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