KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $7.02 Million Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,103 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.63.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE DGX opened at $181.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.36. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $146.91 and a 52 week high of $191.49. The company has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total value of $42,705.51. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,500. This trade represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.