Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 13,878 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Quest Diagnostics stake by 55.6% in the first quarter, selling 13,878 shares and leaving it with 11,071 shares worth about $2.17 million.
• Quest Diagnostics insiders also sold stock recently: SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares and CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares under pre-arranged trading plans.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $2.50 on revenue of $2.90 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share. Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 55.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,071 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 13,878 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth approximately $210,000. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the first quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 18,458 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 52.1% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,951 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 217,286 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $42,584,000 after purchasing an additional 37,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $211.55 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $196.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.32.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.58.

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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