Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 13.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 154,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,417 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $29,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $173.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $148.70 and a one year high of $197.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total transaction of $239,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.27.

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.