Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,253 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 526,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,253 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Quest Diagnostics worth $103,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after purchasing an additional 228,271 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,024,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $201.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $165.19 and a 1-year high of $219.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.01%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.