Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 129,964 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Quest Diagnostics stake by 8% in the first quarter, purchasing 129,964 additional shares and holding 1.75 million shares worth approximately $343.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 88.06% of the company.
• Quest Diagnostics reported quarterly earnings of $3.12 per share, beating estimates of $2.82, while revenue rose 10.2% year over year to $3.04 billion. The company reaffirmed fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $11.05–$11.25.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $235.31, while DGX recently traded at $233.21. Quest also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.86, equivalent to a 1.5% annual yield.

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,752,902 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 129,964 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.58% of Quest Diagnostics worth $343,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report 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. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $233.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $166.76 and a one year high of $240.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $207.36 and a 200 day moving average of $199.75.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a $0.86 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by 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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