Truist Financial Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp cut its Quest Diagnostics stake by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,740 shares and leaving it with 34,802 shares worth about $6.0 million.
• Several Quest Diagnostics insiders also sold stock recently, including SVP Patrick Plewman and EVP Catherine T. Doherty; insiders have sold 24,083 shares worth nearly $4.95 million over the past 90 days.
• Quest Diagnostics reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.50 and revenue of $2.90 billion, and it also raised its dividend to $0.86 per share while authorizing a $1 billion share buyback.

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,802 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,740 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted 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 worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. The trade was a 26.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $187.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $198.21 and its 200-day moving average is $189.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.58.

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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