5,136 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Bought by Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC initiated a new position in Quest Diagnostics, buying 5,136 shares valued at about $1.0 million in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors also increased their stakes, and overall hedge funds and other institutions own 88.06% of Quest Diagnostics stock.
• Quest Diagnostics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90 billion, both above estimates; the company also lifted its FY 2026 guidance and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share.

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,136 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.0% during the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 6,488 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 12,889 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 156,832 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $30,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 94,640 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $18,736,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 23,951 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. Truist Financial raised 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. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $212.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

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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