Midwest Trust Co Buys New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Midwest Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 100,264 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,010,000. Midwest Trust Co owned about 0.09% of Quest Diagnostics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $18,276,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $5,097,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 9.2% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,103 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,819,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.6% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 89,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,062,000 after purchasing an additional 5,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 17,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.31.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,824,765. This represents a 11.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total value of $270,316.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,214.40. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 38,654 shares of company stock worth $7,189,232 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.6%

DGX stock opened at $179.31 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $148.70 and a one year high of $197.55. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

About Quest Diagnostics

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.