First Trust Advisors LP Raises Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,955 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.33% of Quest Diagnostics worth $70,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,556,777,000 after purchasing an additional 296,860 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,318,000 after buying an additional 744,102 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $533,563,000 after buying an additional 208,261 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,907,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $363,509,000 after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after acquiring an additional 381,619 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $200.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.05.

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

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This trade represents a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $220.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics 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.