Boston Partners Cuts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

by · The Markets Daily

Boston Partners decreased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,913,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 123,555 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $680,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $106,183,000 after buying an additional 352,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

View Our Latest Stock Report on DGX

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $202.62 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. 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’s fifty day moving average is $194.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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