Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Sells 83,258 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Key Points

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Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. decreased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 431,300 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 83,258 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics makes up 0.8% of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. owned about 0.39% of Quest Diagnostics worth $72,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $388,724,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,293,000 after purchasing an additional 443,094 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,587,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of DGX stock traded down $3.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $180.10. 947,753 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 936,669. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $175.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.44. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $146.17 and a twelve month high of $185.62.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 4,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.00, for a total transaction of $829,356.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,155,652. This trade represents a 20.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,500. The trade was a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,521 shares of company stock valued at $3,913,412. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.