Analysts Set Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) PT at $210.29

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $210.2857.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. Evercore set a $220.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $208.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.31. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $157.20 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $293,521.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This trade represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,164 shares of company stock worth $1,872,363 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $238,122,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during 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 last quarter. M&G PLC grew its holdings 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 worth $193,090,000 after buying an additional 771,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after buying an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Quest Diagnostics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple near? and multi?year EPS forecasts for Quest, lifting FY2026 to $10.57 (from $10.26), FY2027 to $11.42 (from $11.21) and FY2028 to $12.54, and increasing several quarterly estimates (Q1?26 $2.37, Q2?26 $2.84, Q3?26 $2.79, Q2?27 $2.92, Q3?27 $2.90, Q4?27 $3.06). The revisions signal stronger expected earnings power versus prior guidance and consensus. Zacks Research Estimate Revisions
• Neutral Sentiment: Quest announced “Quest AI Companion,” an AI chat feature (built with Google’s Gemini) to help patients and providers interpret up to five years of lab data. This could improve patient engagement and differentiation over time but is unlikely to materially affect near?term revenue/earnings. Quest AI Companion Release

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.