Boston Common Asset Management LLC Has $17.70 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,037 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 1.1% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $17,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after buying an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $335,204,000 after buying an additional 24,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $210.87 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $165.30 and a 1 year high of $219.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $200.52 and a 200-day moving average of $196.27.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.17.

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.