Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Increases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 15.9%, owning approximately 0.28% of the company's shares valued at $53.27 million after acquiring an additional 43,299 shares.
• Insiders at Quest Diagnostics sold a total of 22,521 shares valued at $3.91 million over the last ninety days, with notable sales from senior vice presidents Karthik Kuppusamy and Patrick Plewman.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a 15.2% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share surpassing analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 to be paid in October.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 314,857 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 43,299 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.28% of Quest Diagnostics worth $53,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 183 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,363,325. This trade represents a 22.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,521 shares of company stock valued at $3,913,412 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $180.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.09 and a 200 day moving average of $172.44. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.17 and a fifty-two week high of $185.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.

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