Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for Quest Diagnostics (DGX)

A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) recently:

• 2/6/2025 – Quest Diagnostics was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 2/4/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $173.00 to $180.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 2/3/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $177.00 to $178.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 2/3/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $166.00 to $170.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 2/3/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Sandler. They now have a $180.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $165.00.
• 1/31/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its price target raised by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $172.00 to $182.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 1/31/2025 – Quest Diagnostics had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $168.00 to $175.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 1/29/2025 – Quest Diagnostics was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• 1/14/2025 – Quest Diagnostics was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 1/6/2025 – Quest Diagnostics was upgraded by analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating.
• 1/6/2025 – Quest Diagnostics was upgraded by analysts at Leerink Partners from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $174.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $169.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $170.93. 338,631 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,019,972. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.30 and a twelve month high of $172.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $67,447,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.