Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Stock Holdings Lifted by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 207,720 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,751 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank owned 0.19% of Quest Diagnostics worth $48,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $1,965,923,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $439,753,000 after buying an additional 582,797 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,151,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $382,085,000 after buying an additional 17,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11.3% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 942,407 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $199,743,000 after acquiring an additional 95,804 shares during 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 analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.08.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of DGX traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $231.87. The company had a trading volume of 308,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,476. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $171.18 and a 1-year high of $248.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.54.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. This trade represents a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% 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 sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated NYSE: DGX is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers and other organizations diagnose, monitor and manage medical conditions.

Its services include routine blood and other clinical laboratory tests, advanced and molecular diagnostics, anatomic pathology, genetic and genomic testing, and testing related to infectious diseases. Quest also provides employer health screening, drug testing, clinical trial support and laboratory information services.

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