Patrick Plewman Sells 958 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $196,227.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,244,097.54. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Patrick Plewman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 10th, Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $202.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $157.20 and a one year high of $213.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.