Voya Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 250,204 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Quest Diagnostics worth $29,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $238,122,000. M&G PLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,318,000 after buying an additional 744,102 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after buying an additional 381,619 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This trade represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 94,461 shares of company stock worth $17,957,361 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $176.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.62. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $148.70 and a 52-week high of $197.55. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.86.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.56%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.