Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Boosts Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 21.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.9% in the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the first quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $5,293,250.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,453.04. This represents a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,325. This trade represents a 22.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Baird R W cut Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.63.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7%

DGX opened at $182.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $181.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $146.91 and a one year high of $191.49. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

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.