Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,747,952 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 258,593 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned about 1.56% of Quest Diagnostics worth $313,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 80.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 319 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 38,118 shares of company stock worth $7,127,684 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $189.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $184.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $148.70 and a fifty-two week high of $197.55.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

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.