Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.72 Billion Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,251,632 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,056 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Quest Diagnostics worth $2,716,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after acquiring an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth $5,757,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,005 shares of company stock valued at $11,984,724. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $204.50 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $157.20 and a one year high of $213.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.