Empowered Funds LLC Has $1.88 Million Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 61.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,614 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 15,381 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at about $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $238.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $240.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $210.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.12.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.