Corient Private Wealth LP Buys Shares of 38,912 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth initiated a position of 38,912 Quest Diagnostics shares valued at approximately $8.25 million. Institutional investors collectively own 88.06% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $235.31; several firms recently raised their targets to between $250 and $260.
• Quest Diagnostics exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.12 in EPS and $3.04 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 10.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, equivalent to a 1.4% yield.

Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38,912 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $8,248,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $29,847,000 after purchasing an additional 110,280 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,485,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% 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 own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $243.11 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $223.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.20. The stock has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

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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