Xponance Inc. Trims Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,798 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,517 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth approximately $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after buying an additional 5,257 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $196,227.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,244,097.54. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $293,521.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $211.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $157.20 and a 12 month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.