J. Davis Sells 10,000 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $194.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $21.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $194.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.20. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Key Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.