Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 26,825 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,686,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $243.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $220.20 and a 200-day moving average of $205.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $171.18 and a 1-year high of $246.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.