Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Takes $1.10 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,757 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. G&S Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $1,262,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,452,000. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 144.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after buying an additional 8,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,167 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,341,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $189.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.64. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $181.90 and a 200-day moving average of $179.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $197.55.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.