Trexquant Investment LP Has $6.42 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 88.0% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 17,749 shares for a total value of approximately $6.4 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a 15.2% year-over-year increase in revenue, posting $2.76 billion in the latest quarter, along with earnings per share of $2.62, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80, with a 1.8% yield and a planned payment date of October 20th.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 88.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,916 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,749 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 183 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $179.83. The stock had a trading volume of 246,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,878. The business's 50-day moving average price is $175.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.17 and a fifty-two week high of $185.62. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.54.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.