Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Acquired by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its Quest Diagnostics stake by 77.8% in the fourth quarter, and institutional investors now own 88.06% of the company.
• Quest Diagnostics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $2.90 billion versus $2.83 billion expected; revenue rose 9.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share and a $1 billion share repurchase program, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $216.58.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 77.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,938 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,851 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.7%

DGX opened at $195.23 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. The company has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $194.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The company 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 was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 38.01%.

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

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,744,628.97. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,919 shares of company stock worth $3,072,899. Corporate 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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