Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Buys 2,978 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 156,832 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,978 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned about 0.14% of Quest Diagnostics worth $30,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $209.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.79.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 company posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.