4,952 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Acquired by Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Atlas Capital Advisors opened a new position in Quest Diagnostics, buying 4,952 shares valued at about $859,000 in the fourth quarter.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a strong recent quarter, with EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations, while revenue rose 9.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, and analysts remain mixed but constructive, with an average price target of $216.58 and a Moderate Buy rating.

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,952 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,517,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 19,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth approximately $2,026,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $202.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.42 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 fifty day moving average price of $194.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business'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 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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