State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,396 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tredje AP fonden raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 34.7% in the second quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 30,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,407,000 after buying an additional 7,761 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 40,502 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,275,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% in the second quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 11.3% in the second quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 7,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 18.4% in the second quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total transaction of $42,705.51. Following 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,189,232. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $178.00 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $148.70 and a 12 month high of $197.55. The stock has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

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.