Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Acquires 7,700 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,320 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $200.74 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50. The company has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.59. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $194.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.37.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

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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