Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired 3,078 shares of Quest Diagnostics, valued at approximately $553,000, during the 2nd quarter.
• The stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $186.00 from various analysts.
• Quest Diagnostics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, to be paid on October 20th.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,078 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.9% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,513 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the first quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,922 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX traded up $0.36 on Friday, reaching $183.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,435,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,800. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $146.17 and a 52 week high of $185.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $176.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.01.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.