Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Atwater Malick LLC

Key Points

• Hedge fund Atwater Malick LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.7%, selling 7,609 shares to hold 35,333 shares valued at about $6.13 million.
• Quest beat quarterly estimates with $2.42 EPS on $2.81 billion revenue, set FY2026 guidance of 9.45–9.65 EPS, and announced a $1.00 billion share repurchase plan while raising the quarterly dividend to $0.86.
• Institutional investors own about 88.06% of the stock, while insiders sold 24,083 shares (≈$4.95 million) over the last quarter and currently hold about 8.16% of shares.

Atwater Malick LLC lowered its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,333 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 7,609 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics comprises 1.7% of Atwater Malick LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Atwater Malick LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $192.82 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $160.02 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $200.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $210.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last quarter. 8.16% 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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