Bleakley Financial Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group opened a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter, buying 10,559 shares valued at about $2.07 million.
• Insider selling was reported, with CEO J. E. Davis and SVP Karthik Kuppusamy both selling shares through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
• Quest Diagnostics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, and analysts remain mixed but constructive overall, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $217.17.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,559 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,069,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the 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 owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of DGX opened at $209.34 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $165.19 and a 1-year high of $219.20. The company has a market capitalization of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $200.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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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