Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $995,577,000 after purchasing an additional 38,931 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,907,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $363,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,688,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $321,846,000 after acquiring an additional 30,418 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,979.58. The trade was a 15.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $192.50 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $199.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.72. The firm has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.60. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50.

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

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.54.

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.