Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.3%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $199.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $157.20 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $191.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.77.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Quest Diagnostics

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research expects higher Q4/near-term earnings for Quest, which supports the company’s fundamentals and could be a near-term tailwind if results and guidance confirm those estimates. Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for Quest Diagnostics
• Neutral Sentiment: Equity analysts have set/updated expectations for DGX Q4 earnings (consensus estimates being monitored ahead of the print); this keeps focus on results and guide as the primary near-term catalysts. Equities Analysts Set Expectations for DGX Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are driving implied volatility higher on DGX, indicating the market is pricing a larger-than-normal move around upcoming news (increases trading costs and can amplify share moves in either direction). Implied Volatility Surging for Quest Diagnostics Stock Options
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior executives completed sizable stock sales this week (SVPs and an EVP sold shares at ~ $204–$206 each). Combined disclosed sales total roughly $3.07M and represented single-digit to mid-teens percentage reductions in holdings — a negative signal that likely pressured the stock given concentration of selling among insiders. SEC Filing (Form 4) — Karthik Kuppusamy

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.