Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 163,970 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3,703.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,970 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.15% of Quest Diagnostics worth $29,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $335,204,000 after purchasing an additional 24,038 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7%

DGX stock opened at $201.62 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.58.

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.