Nordea Investment Management AB Trims Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,313 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 164,099 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $12,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,556,777,000 after buying an additional 296,860 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,318,000 after acquiring an additional 744,102 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $533,563,000 after purchasing an additional 208,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $297,890,000 after purchasing an additional 381,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DGX. Mizuho upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total value of $270,316.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676 over the last quarter. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.9%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $190.25 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $148.70 and a 1-year high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.75.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.