Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Amundi

Amundi lessened its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 408,330 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 55,834 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.37% of Quest Diagnostics worth $80,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

DGX stock opened at $233.21 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $207.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $166.76 and a fifty-two week high of $240.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.

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