Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,225 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $323,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,908 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $183.29 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $148.70 and a 12-month high of $197.55. The company has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $182.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.31.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total value of $42,705.51. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.