Danske Bank A S Acquires 11,200 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.5% in Q4, acquiring 11,200 shares to hold 75,161 shares worth about $13.04 million (≈0.07% of the company).
• Quest Diagnostics beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.50 vs. $2.37 est. and revenue of $2.90B vs. $2.83B, and set FY2026 guidance of $10.63–$10.83 EPS (analyst average target ~$214.54).
• The company boosted shareholder returns by raising the quarterly dividend to $0.86 (annualized $3.44, 1.8% yield) and authorizing a $1.0B share buyback (≈4.7% of shares), while insiders sold about 24,083 shares in the last quarter.

Danske Bank A S grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,161 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S owned about 0.07% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $13,652,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,713,000. TKG Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% during the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 5,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $214.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $192.50 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $199.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. 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 10.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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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