Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Sells 2,842 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,810 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,842 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics comprises approximately 1.3% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $30,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $184.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $148.70 and a 1-year high of $197.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Baird R W cut Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,765. The trade was a 11.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.