National Pension Service Sells 191,473 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

National Pension Service trimmed its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 81.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,418 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 191,473 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners lifted 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 acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $161,946,000 after acquiring an additional 848,481 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $106,183,000 after acquiring an additional 352,072 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE DGX opened at $192.26 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $194.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.11. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. The trade was a 15.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,919 shares of company stock worth $3,072,899 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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