Compass Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 3,564 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $679,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $238,122,000. M&G PLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% in the second quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,090,000 after purchasing an additional 771,824 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,318,000 after purchasing an additional 744,102 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,267,015.12. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $293,521.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,507 shares of company stock worth $12,702,039. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $202.28 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $157.20 and a fifty-two week high of $213.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

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.