Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 3,186 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.7%, owning 63,993 shares worth approximately $11.5 million after selling 3,186 shares.
• Several hedge funds notably increased their stakes in Quest Diagnostics, with Pinnacle Bancorp growing its position by 126.9% in the second quarter.
• Quest Diagnostics reported $2.60 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, along with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,993 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,186 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $11,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Leerink Partners set a $210.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $193.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $5,293,250.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,453.04. This trade represents a 42.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 3.1%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $184.48 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $148.70 and a fifty-two week high of $197.55. The stock has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $182.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.

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