Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Mark Delaney Sells 1,600 Shares

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE DGX opened at $235.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $166.75 and a fifty-two week high of $240.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business’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. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Ossiam grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.31.

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.