31,480 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Bought by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 31,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,672,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth 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 lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $244.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $246.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business’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. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

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.