Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $376,288.00 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $233.21 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $166.76 and a 52 week high of $240.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $207.36 and a 200-day moving average of $199.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $235.31.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Ossiam increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.