BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 6,487 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, adding 6,487 shares and bringing its total holding to 228,057 shares valued at about $39.6 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations with $2.50 per share on $2.90 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 9.2% year over year.
• Management and analysts remain active on the stock: CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares under a 10b5-1 plan, analysts currently rate DGX a “Moderate Buy,” and the company also authorized a $1 billion share repurchase plus a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,057 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.21% of Quest Diagnostics worth $39,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $193,391,000 after buying an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:DGX opened at $194.17 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $21.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $194.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.20.

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

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 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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