Calamos Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 43,506 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 43,506 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,526,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paradiem LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after buying an additional 19,361 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $275,895,000 after buying an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,024,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $205.91 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $199.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DGX. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.