Blair William & Co. IL Buys 38,588 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL significantly increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 73.3%, acquiring a total of 91,209 shares valued at approximately $16.38 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a 15.2% year-over-year revenue increase for the quarter, totaling $2.76 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.62, surpassing estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, yielding 1.7%, which will be paid on October 20th to investors of record.

Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 73.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,209 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,588 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $16,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently 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 downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.63.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $184.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.21 and a 200-day moving average of $175.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $146.91 and a 12 month high of $191.49.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total transaction of $42,705.51. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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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