Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Sells 2,436 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. reduced its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,396 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,436 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned 0.14% of Quest Diagnostics worth $32,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 835 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $243.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $171.18 and a 12 month high of $247.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.09. The stock has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% 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. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.