Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $241.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $218.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.87. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $245.68.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.