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

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

DGX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $189.27 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.82. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.64.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total value of $270,316.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at $23,158,665.60. The trade was a 31.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 65,771 shares of company stock worth $12,588,676. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 147.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 2,178 shares during the last quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by 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.