Nykredit A S Purchases New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 33,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,194,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $410,151,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $229,522,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. The trade was a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.1%

DGX stock opened at $236.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $227.64 and its 200 day moving average is $208.31. The stock has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $171.18 and a 1-year high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.