Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 73.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 38,588 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $16,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,439,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Baird R W downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,363,325. This represents a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $5,293,250.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,453.04. The trade was a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE DGX opened at $184.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.21 and its 200 day moving average is $175.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $146.91 and a twelve month high of $191.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.