4,600 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $240.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $224.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This trade represents a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,424 shares of company stock worth $7,518,693. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.