The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 99,770 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $21,146,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.09% of Quest Diagnostics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $244.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business's fifty day moving average price is $223.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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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