Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Takes $1.42 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired 6,686 Quest Diagnostics shares during the second quarter, establishing a position worth approximately $1.42 million. Institutional investors collectively own 88.06% of DGX.
• Quest Diagnostics exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.12 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, with revenue up 10.2% year over year. The company guided for fiscal 2026 EPS of $11.05–$11.25.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $235.31. Quest also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, representing a 1.5% annualized yield.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,686 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,417,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $236.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $217.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $240.13.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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