SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 694.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 157,031 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $31,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $262,000. TABR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $339,000. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 2,152 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $196.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $21.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $197.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.32. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.