Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. Davis Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.4%

DGX stock opened at $192.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.11. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.58.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Ossiam lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the third 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 period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.