Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Purchased by Cibc World Market Inc.

Key Points

• Cibc World Market Inc. increased its Quest Diagnostics stake by 80.5% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 14,017 shares valued at about $2.43 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and 88.06% of Quest Diagnostics shares are now held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Quest Diagnostics reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90 billion, both above estimates; the company also authorized a $1 billion share buyback and declared a $0.86 quarterly dividend.

Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 80.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,017 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paradiem LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,329,000 after buying an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $5,757,000. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6,070.7% in the third quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 61,707 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,761,000 after buying an additional 60,707 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents 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 Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $197.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.59. 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 one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The stock's fifty day moving average is $194.42 and its 200-day moving average is $191.45.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders 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 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.