AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Decreases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23.5%, selling 27,786 shares and leaving 90,605 shares valued at about $15.7 million.
• Quest Diagnostics beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.50 vs. $2.37; revenue $2.90B, up 9.2% year-over-year), set FY2026 guidance of $10.63–$10.83 EPS, and announced a $1.0 billion buyback while raising the quarterly dividend to $0.86.
• Analysts are mixed — the consensus rating is a Hold with an average target of $214.54 — institutional ownership is high (~88%) and insiders have sold roughly 24,083 shares (~$4.95M) in the past 90 days.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,605 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 27,786 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $15,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $214.54.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $195.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $200.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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