Nykredit A S Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Nykredit A S bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 33,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,194,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after buying an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $439,753,000 after acquiring an additional 582,797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $236.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $227.64 and a 200 day moving average of $208.31. 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 fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,714,510.56. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. The trade was a 37.65% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.