Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) CEO Sells $1,941,400.00 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:DGX opened at $196.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $194.35 and a 200 day moving average of $191.26. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities 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, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after acquiring an additional 848,481 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.