Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Invests $6.49 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 30,621 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,490,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $133,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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, UBS Group lifted 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. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.0%

DGX opened at $244.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. 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 PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.29.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.