Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Stock Holdings Lifted by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,975 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after buying an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 406,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 24,038 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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 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 owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $215.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $164.65 and a 1 year high of $217.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’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. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.