360,453 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by M.D. Sass LLC

M.D. Sass LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 360,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,398,000. Quest Diagnostics comprises approximately 5.0% of M.D. Sass LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after purchasing an additional 140,450 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after buying an additional 406,658 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:DGX opened at $236.71 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $171.18 and a 1 year high of $240.13. The stock has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $217.00 and a 200-day moving average of $204.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

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.