Saudi Central Bank Buys 3,585 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Saudi Central Bank raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 87.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 158,617 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $235.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $228.62 and its 200 day moving average is $208.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $247.19. The firm has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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 was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. The trade was a 37.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total value of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,714,510.56. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.