7,033 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 7,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,491,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,252,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,681,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,925,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $244.34 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.29. The company has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $245.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.