Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $77.69 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 447,727 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,171 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.40% of Quest Diagnostics worth $77,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.5%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $194.79 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.11.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.