Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 48.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,979 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 9,423 shares during the quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $233.21 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $166.76 and a 52-week high of $240.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $207.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.31.

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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