PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Trims Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,265 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total transaction of $239,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 17,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 62,005 shares of company stock worth $11,984,724 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $202.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $185.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.