California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 174,776 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,538 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Quest Diagnostics worth $37,043,773 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $439,753,000 after acquiring an additional 582,797 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $410,151,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,085,000 after acquiring an additional 17,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock traded up $9.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $246.99. 704,697 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 951,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $248.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $230.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.60. The company has a market cap of $27.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,714,510.56. This represents a 7.55% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price 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 increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated NYSE: DGX is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing used to help diagnose, monitor and manage diseases and other health conditions, serving physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.

Its services include routine blood and urine testing, advanced and esoteric diagnostics, molecular and genetic testing, anatomic pathology, cancer testing, drug screening and wellness-related assessments.

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