HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 7,678 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 12.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 67,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,678 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $14,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.1%

DGX opened at $235.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing used to help diagnose, monitor and manage diseases and other health conditions, serving physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.

Its services include routine blood and urine testing, advanced and esoteric diagnostics, molecular and genetic testing, anatomic pathology, cancer testing, drug screening and wellness-related assessments.