Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi sold 215,132 shares of Quest Diagnostics, reducing its stake by 27% to 580,353 shares, valued at approximately $99 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported $2.62 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and posted revenue of $2.76 billion, up 15.2% from last year.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

Amundi reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 580,353 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 215,132 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.52% of Quest Diagnostics worth $99,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,012,534,000 after acquiring an additional 493,960 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $388,724,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,002,379 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $151,219,000 after purchasing an additional 128,285 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 961,154 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $162,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.3% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 765,938 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $127,131,000 after buying an additional 17,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total value of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,784,484. The trade was a 43.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,363,325. This trade represents a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $3.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $183.66. 598,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,819. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $146.17 and a 12-month high of $185.62. The company has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.54. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Baird R W cut Quest Diagnostics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics 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.