Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sold 167,326 shares, reducing its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18.3%, leaving them with 746,037 shares valued at approximately $126 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Quest Diagnostics, with Brighton Jones LLC purchasing a new stake valued at $323,000 during the fourth quarter.
• Quest Diagnostics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $3.20 and a yield of 1.7%, set to be paid on October 20th.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 746,037 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 167,326 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of Quest Diagnostics worth $126,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at about $388,724,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,012,534,000 after buying an additional 493,960 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $75,293,000 after buying an additional 443,094 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,587,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,698,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,363,325. This represents a 22.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,784,484. This trade represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787. 8.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $2.13 on Wednesday, hitting $182.29. 64,868 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,112,469. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $146.17 and a 52 week high of $185.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.54.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 38.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DGX. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.