Trust Investment Advisors Invests $223,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9%

DGX opened at $180.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $148.70 and a twelve month high of $197.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $183.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This trade represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,668 shares of company stock worth $9,917,788. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.