Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab

Key Points

• Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 13.4% in Q4 (selling 9,500 shares), leaving it with 61,346 shares worth $10.65M, while several large institutions (Boston Partners, EdgePoint, UBS, BofA, Marshall Wace) substantially increased positions and institutional ownership stands at 88.06%.
• Quest Diagnostics beat estimates with $2.50 EPS and $2.90B revenue (revenue +9.2% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of $10.63–$10.83 EPS, and boosted shareholder returns via a quarterly dividend increase to $0.86 and a $1.0B share repurchase authorization (~4.7% of shares).
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $214.54 (seven Buy vs. eight Hold), though several firms have recently raised price targets and one upgraded to Buy.

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab decreased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,346 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 9,500 shares during the quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab owned approximately 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $10,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $161,946,000 after acquiring an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $106,183,000 after acquiring an additional 352,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $214.54.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $194.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average is $199.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.64. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50.

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 net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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