J. Davis Sells 55,093 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. Davis sold 55,093 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at $23,158,665.60. The trade was a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.3%

DGX stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.18. The stock had a trading volume of 379,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,030. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.96. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $148.70 and a twelve month high of $197.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at $388,724,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $238,122,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 771,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,012,534,000 after purchasing an additional 493,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.