Saudi Central Bank Has $1.63 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 87.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Bank OZK purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,247,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,847,000 after buying an additional 110,280 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,965,923,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $235.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $247.19. 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 50-day simple moving average is $228.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.77.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total value of $2,427,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,714,510.56. The trade was a 7.55% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.