SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $6.49 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 27,290 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,485,000. Quest Diagnostics accounts for 2.2% of SGL Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $241.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $218.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.87. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $245.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

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.