Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 7,033 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, July 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:DGX opened at $244.34 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $245.68. The company has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.