First National Bank of Omaha boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,199 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,867 shares during the quarter. First National Bank of Omaha owned about 0.05% of Quest Diagnostics worth $10,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $995,577,000 after purchasing an additional 38,931 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position 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 worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,548 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $335,204,000 after purchasing an additional 24,038 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,688,769 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $321,846,000 after purchasing an additional 30,418 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents 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. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.
Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.6%
DGX opened at $202.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $194.99 and a 200-day moving average of $191.86. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.
Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.58.
View Our Latest Research Report on DGX
Quest Diagnostics Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
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