Cibc World Market Inc. Invests $1.59 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $275,895,000 after buying an additional 228,271 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after acquiring an additional 110,280 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,965,923,000. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,485,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on DGX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of DGX opened at $244.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $223.00 and its 200 day moving average is $206.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.