Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 22.7% in Q4, selling 47,663 shares and now holding 162,253 shares worth about $28.16 million (≈0.15% of the company).
• Quest Diagnostics beat quarterly expectations with $2.50 EPS (vs. $2.37) and $2.90B revenue (up 9.2% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance of 10.63–10.83 EPS (consensus ~10.71).
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.86 ($3.44 annualized, 1.8% yield) and authorized a $1.0 billion share buyback program (~4.7% of outstanding shares).

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 162,253 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 47,663 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.15% of Quest Diagnostics worth $28,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $214.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.8%

DGX stock opened at $194.56 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $199.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. 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.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors 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%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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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