Patrick Plewman Sells 2,855 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,979.58. The trade was a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Patrick Plewman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 19th, Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $196,227.14.
• On Tuesday, February 10th, Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.3%

DGX traded down $4.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.37. 1,055,721 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,047,341. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $191.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $157.20 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.57%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth about $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.