Foster & Motley Inc. Has $3.39 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,015 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Paradiem LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,652,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the period. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $195.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $157.20 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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.