Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 4,906 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Boston Partners raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,391,000 after purchasing an additional 450,161 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $106,183,000 after purchasing an additional 352,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $195.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,919 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,899. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.