Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC

Key Points

• Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.2%, selling 4,467 shares and maintaining 9,421 shares valued at approximately $1.59 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a quarterly EPS of $2.62, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.57, with a revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80, representing an annualized dividend of $3.20 and a yield of 1.8%, to be paid on October 20th.

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 32.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,421 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,467 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,177,572 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $199,245,000 after purchasing an additional 84,530 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,906,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 53.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 495,654 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $83,864,000 after purchasing an additional 172,518 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Baird R W cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $182.86. 454,078 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,769. The business's 50-day moving average price is $175.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $146.17 and a twelve month high of $185.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $20.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS 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 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 is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total value of $1,384,230.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at $3,363,325. This trade represents a 22.36% 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 worth $4,278,787. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

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.