Swedbank AB Increases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 93,468 shares valued at about $16.2 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $2.50 per share and revenue of $2.90 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue also rose 9.2% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.86 per share and authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in its financial position.

Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,468 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,605 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $16,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:DGX opened at $187.43 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $198.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.77. The company has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board 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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