Corient Private Wealth LLC Buys 10,466 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth increased its Quest Diagnostics stake by 40% in the fourth quarter, buying 10,466 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 36,613 shares worth about $6.35 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90 billion, both above analyst estimates; revenue rose 9.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share and has recently seen mixed insider activity, with both the CEO and an SVP selling shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,613 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,466 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the 3rd 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 period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in 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 buying an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $206.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $195.46 and its 200 day moving average is $192.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. 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. 0.88% of the stock is 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DGX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.