Trillium Asset Management LLC Takes $5.43 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 25,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,435,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after purchasing an additional 228,271 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after buying an additional 110,280 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,460,000 after buying an additional 16,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $241.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $218.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.87. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $245.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. 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 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.