Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise sharply reduced its Quest Diagnostics stake in the first quarter, cutting holdings by 74.8% to 1,762 shares worth about $346,000.
• Quest Diagnostics saw additional insider selling, with CEO J. E. Davis and SVP Karthik Kuppusamy both trimming their positions through pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, and Quest recently reported strong quarterly results with EPS and revenue beating expectations and a dividend of $0.86 per share announced.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 74.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,762 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,219 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,548 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $335,204,000 after purchasing an additional 24,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was 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. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Weiss Ratings lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $209.73 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.87. The company has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. 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 (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

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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