Danske Bank A S Purchases 11,200 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Danske Bank A S boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,161 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $13,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,804 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $312,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 50.6% during the 4th quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Trust Co now owns 10,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE DGX opened at $192.50 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.72. The stock has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.54.

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.