Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Acquired by Davis Selected Advisers

Key Points

• Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% to about 1.59 million shares (≈$275.9M), and several other large funds (Boston Partners, EdgePoint, UBS, BofA, Marshall Wace) also materially increased holdings, leaving institutional ownership at ~88.1%.
• Quest beat quarterly expectations with $2.50 EPS vs. $2.37 est. and $2.90B revenue vs. $2.83B est., issued FY‑2026 guidance of $10.63–$10.83 EPS, approved a $1.0B share buyback (up to ~4.7% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.86.
• Analysts show a mixed view: the consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $214.54, though several firms have lifted targets (e.g., Mizuho $235, Barclays $230, Jefferies/Evercore ~$225).

Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 228,271 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics makes up 1.2% of Davis Selected Advisers' investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Davis Selected Advisers owned about 1.43% of Quest Diagnostics worth $275,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $161,946,000 after acquiring an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $106,183,000 after acquiring an additional 352,072 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $214.54.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $192.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $164.65 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.64.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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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