First National Advisers LLC Has $2.35 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.3% in the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total transaction of $1,488,683.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 65,771 shares of company stock worth $12,588,676 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $189.27 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $197.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics 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.