Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.10 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter, buying 5,600 shares valued at about $1.1 million.
• Analysts remain mixed on DGX: the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with seven Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings, and an average price target of $216.58.
• Quest Diagnostics reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share to be paid on July 22.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,600 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. First American Bank increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.6% during the first quarter. First American Bank now owns 3,472 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 5,848 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $2,195,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $215.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $197.41 and its 200 day moving average is $193.95. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $164.65 and a 1 year high of $217.41.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics 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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