Bank OZK Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bank OZK acquired 15,322 Quest Diagnostics shares worth approximately $3.25 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company, with BlackRock, Bank of America and Norges Bank also reporting major positions.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $235.31, while recent targets range as high as $260.
• Quest Diagnostics exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, 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, while insiders sold nearly $3.95 million of stock over the past three months.

Bank OZK purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 15,322 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $3,247,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $410,151,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $244.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.84. 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 $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

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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