Heartland Advisors Inc. Invests $9.60 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 45,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,604,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $244.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $245.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $219.35 and its 200-day moving average is $205.14.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.