Bank of America Corp DE Acquires New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 1.94 million Quest Diagnostics shares worth approximately $410.2 million, representing about 1.75% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 88.06% of DGX.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $236.31. Recent reports raised targets as high as $255, while shares traded near $247.20.
• Quest Diagnostics exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $3.12 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, up 10.2% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, yielding about 1.4%.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,935,133 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $410,151,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.75% of Quest Diagnostics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $439,753,000 after acquiring an additional 582,797 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,085,000 after purchasing an additional 17,987 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $229,522,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $151,986,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $247.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $230.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $248.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at $29,714,510.56. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated NYSE: DGX is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing used to help diagnose, monitor and manage diseases and other health conditions, serving physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.

Its services include routine blood and urine testing, advanced and esoteric diagnostics, molecular and genetic testing, anatomic pathology, cancer testing, drug screening and wellness-related assessments.

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