Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Bought by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,956 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during 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 raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during 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. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% during 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. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $190.35 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. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $196.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.86. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 EPS for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,421 shares of company stock valued at $3,790,214 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.