First Hawaiian Bank Buys New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• First Hawaiian Bank acquired 1,581 shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $268,000.
• The company's stock received multiple ratings changes, with Wall Street Zen downgrading it from "buy" to "hold", while Truist Financial raised its price objective from $190 to $192.
• Quest Diagnostics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 to be paid on October 20th, representing an annual yield of 1.8%.

First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,581 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth approximately $388,724,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,012,534,000 after acquiring an additional 493,960 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,293,000 after acquiring an additional 443,094 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $55,587,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $33,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Baird R W lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.69. 1,435,553 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 633,800. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.17 and a fifty-two week high of $185.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 38.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,325. This represents a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total value of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,784,484. This trade represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,496 shares of company stock worth $4,278,787 over the last quarter. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.