Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases Shares of 66,246 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 66,246 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,041,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased 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 valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% 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. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $243.11 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.20. The stock has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56. 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.

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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 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. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

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.