Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,391 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 24,222 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.11% of Quest Diagnostics worth $21,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,012,534,000 after acquiring an additional 493,960 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth about $388,724,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,177,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $199,245,000 after acquiring an additional 84,530 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,013,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $171,405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 961,154 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $162,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Truist Financial set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.81.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $185.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.91 and a fifty-two week high of $191.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.79.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $365,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,269 shares in the company, valued at $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.