Should I Buy DGX? DGX 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Quest Diagnostics Inc (DGX) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

190.710

1 Day change

-0.83%

52 Week Range

197.550

Analysis Updated At

2026/02/04

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Buy DGX now: price is in a confirmed uptrend (bullish MA stack and strengthening MACD) and Wall Street just turned more constructive (Barclays upgrade to Overweight, PT $210).
Upside setup remains attractive into the next 1–4 weeks as long as price holds above ~184 pivot support; nearest breakout area is around ~190.
Main offsets to the buy call are elevated options IV into earnings and heavy recent insider selling, but current tape + institutional accumulation (hedge funds buying) favors upside follow-through.

Technical Analysis

Trend: Bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200) indicating sustained upward momentum across short/medium/long timeframes.
Momentum: MACD histogram +0.288 and expanding, consistent with strengthening bullish momentum.
RSI(6): 63.9 (upper-neutral, not overbought), leaving room for continuation before becoming stretched.
Levels: Pivot support ~184.27 (key “must-hold” for bulls). Price is above R1 ~187.86 and approaching R2 ~190.08; a clean push/hold above ~190 would confirm a breakout.
Quant pattern read: Similar-pattern stats show mild near-term downside bias (next day/week) and weaker 1-month expectation; this is the primary technical/data contradiction to the otherwise bullish trend picture.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Positioning (OI): Put/Call OI ratio 0.92 = fairly balanced, slightly call-leaning (not a crowded bullish extreme).
Flow (Volume): Put/Call volume ratio 0.0 with 508 calls traded and 0 puts suggests bullish day-of flow (calls dominating).
Volatility: 30D IV 30.51 vs historical vol 23.36 (IV elevated). IV percentile 86.45 indicates options are priced rich—often seen ahead of catalysts (earnings on 2026-02-10 pre-market).
Activity: Today’s option volume is ~109.7% of 30D average; open interest ~102.1% of average, suggesting normal-to-slightly elevated participation rather than a one-off spike.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Upcoming earnings catalyst: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-10 (pre-market) with EPS estimate 2.36; positive surprise could be rewarded given the current uptrend.
- Analyst catalyst: Barclays upgrade to Overweight with PT $210, citing sustainable ~4% organic growth and potential 2026 earnings upside/valuation expansion.
- Positioning/support: Hedge funds are buying aggressively (+1536% QoQ buying amount), often a tailwind for continuation moves.
- Operating trend: Latest reported quarter shows solid top-line growth with improving margins (supports the “durable fundamentals” narrative).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- Insider signal: Insiders are selling (selling amount +4456.93% over the last month), a meaningful sentiment headwind.
- Options pricing: Elevated IV into earnings implies the market is pricing a sizable move; if results are merely in-line, the stock can struggle to advance.
- Short-horizon statistical outlook: Similar-candlestick model flags weaker forward expectation (notably the next month), conflicting with the current bullish technical trend.
- News flow provided: No DGX-specific positive news items in the supplied feed; sentiment support is coming more from technicals/ratings/positioning than from fresh headlines.

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q3.
Revenue: $2.816B, +13.18% YoY (strong acceleration at the top line).
Net income: $243M, +8.00% YoY (profit growth positive, but slower than revenue).
EPS: $2.15, +8.04% YoY (steady earnings expansion).
Gross margin: 32.39%, +2.79% YoY (margin improvement supports quality of growth).

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: Improving—Barclays (2026-01-30) upgraded DGX to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised PT to $210 from $195.
Wall Street pros: Confidence in durability of fundamentals, sustainable organic growth, and potential upside to 2026 earnings estimates with room for valuation expansion.
Wall Street cons: The prior concern set was durability of fundamentals (now said to be “laid to rest” by Barclays), but the market will likely demand confirmation at the upcoming earnings print.

11 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast DGX stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for DGX is 203.75 USD with a low forecast of 190 USD and a high forecast of 215 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

5 Buy

6 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 192.300

Low

190

Averages

203.75

High

215

Current: 192.300

Low

190

Averages

203.75

High

215

Barclays

Equal Weight -> Overweight

upgrade

$195 -> $210

AI Analysis

2026-01-30

Reason

Barclays

Price Target

$195 -> $210

AI Analysis

2026-01-30

upgrade

Equal Weight -> Overweight

Reason

Barclays upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $210, up from $195. The company has "laid to rest" fears about the durability of its fundamentals as it has sustainably grown 4% organically from fiscal 2024 to 2025, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees "ample upside" to Quest's earnings growth estimates for 2026 and potential for valuation expansion.

Barclays

Equal Weight -> Overweight

upgrade

$210

2026-01-30

Reason

Barclays

Price Target

$210

2026-01-30

upgrade

Equal Weight -> Overweight

Reason

Barclays upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $210 price target.

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DGX Should I Buy

DGX Should I Buy

Should You Buy Quest Diagnostics Inc (DGX) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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