Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 29,600 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 58.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,600 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Quest Diagnostics worth $15,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during 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 purchasing 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 NYSE DGX opened at $215.35 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $197.41 and a 200-day moving average of $193.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $217.41.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business 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 was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.