Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 26,233 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 296% in the first quarter, buying 26,233 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 35,096 shares worth about $6.88 million.
• Quest Diagnostics has seen broad institutional buying, with hedge funds and other investors owning 88.06% of the company; several firms, including Norges Bank, Boston Partners, and UBS Group, also raised their positions.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share, equal to a 1.6% annualized yield.

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 296.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,096 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,233 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,246,000 after acquiring an additional 811,320 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $209.34 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $200.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $165.19 and a 1 year high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The company 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%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.17.

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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