TD Asset Management Inc Sells 65,893 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• TD Asset Management cut its Quest Diagnostics stake by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 65,893 shares and leaving it with 54,988 shares worth about $9.54 million.
• Insiders also sold stock: CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares and SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares, both under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
• Quest Diagnostics reported solid results and shareholder returns, beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, authorizing a $1 billion share buyback, and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share.

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,988 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 65,893 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $9,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 3.8%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $204.65 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.58. The company has a market cap of $22.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.58.

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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