SG Americas Securities LLC Has $42.58 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC increased its Quest Diagnostics stake by 20.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 217,286 shares valued at about $42.6 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.50 on revenue of $2.90 billion, both above Wall Street estimates, with revenue up 9.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on DGX, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58, while the stock recently traded around $196.92.

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 217,286 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 37,633 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Quest Diagnostics worth $42,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $196.92 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $195.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.37.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% 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. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

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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