Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,801 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $5,681,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $229,522,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in 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 in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $133,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.
Quest Diagnostics Price Performance
Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $244.34 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $245.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.35 and a 200-day moving average of $205.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. The business's 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 36.52%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This represents 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. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.31.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on DGX
About Quest Diagnostics
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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