Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells 1,975 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• SVP Patrick Plewman of Quest Diagnostics sold 1,975 shares of stock at an average price of $180.00, resulting in a total transaction value of $355,500.
• The company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.57, with a significant 15.2% annual revenue increase.
• Quest Diagnostics recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $355,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,103,920. This represents a 10.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Patrick Plewman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 6th, Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $3.8280 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $182.7780. The company had a trading volume of 784,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,683. The stock has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $146.17 and a one year high of $183.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $388,724,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during 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 buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $238,122,000. M&G PLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% during the 2nd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $193,090,000 after buying an additional 771,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $75,293,000 after buying an additional 443,094 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

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.

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