Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,375 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $3,683,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $410,151,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd 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. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,246,000 after buying an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $243.11 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $223.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.09. The company has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 36.52%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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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