Bokf Na Reduces Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Bokf Na decreased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 25.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,940 shares during the period. Bokf Na’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,109 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,795,000 after buying an additional 2,918 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,169,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,376 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,362,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $729,000. 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. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,628.97. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $190.84 on Friday. 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 $21.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $198.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were issued 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 presently 38.01%.

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

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.