2,713 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,713 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $214.54.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $195.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $199.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

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.