38,935 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 38,935 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,252,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Key Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 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 directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of DGX opened at $244.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.29. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $245.68. The company has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’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. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.