OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $2.19 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,195,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $209.73 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $195.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.87. The stock has a market cap of $23.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

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.