Toth Financial Advisory Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $410,151,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several research reports. 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 research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of DGX opened at $243.11 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19. The company has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.09. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.