Bokf Na Sells 6,940 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Bokf Na cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in Q4, selling 6,940 shares and retaining 20,403 shares valued at about $3.54 million, according to its latest 13F filing.
• Quest Diagnostics beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.50 vs. $2.37 forecast and revenue of $2.90 billion (up 9.2% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance at 10.630–10.830 EPS (consensus ~10.71).
• The board authorized a $1.0 billion share buyback (up to ~4.7% of outstanding shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.86 ($3.44 annual, 1.8% yield), while insiders have sold roughly 24,083 shares (~$4.95M) in the past three months.

Bokf Na lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,403 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,940 shares during the period. Bokf Na's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $193,391,000 after purchasing an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $106,183,000 after purchasing an additional 352,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $190.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $198.21 and a 200 day moving average of $189.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

About Quest Diagnostics

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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