Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Quest Diagnostics was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from “hold” to “buy”, adding to a mixed but generally supportive analyst backdrop for the stock.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.50 EPS versus $2.37 expected on revenue of $2.90 billion, which was also above estimates and up 9.2% year over year.
• Several insiders sold shares in recent transactions, including the CEO and a senior vice president, while institutional investors continue to hold the majority of the stock.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Sunday.

DGX has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.60. 614,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 830,775. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $198.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% 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. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.

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