Morningstar Investment Management LLC Makes New $315,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $18,558,000. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 19,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,052 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,976 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 4,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,043 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total transaction of $42,705.51. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471 over the last quarter. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Baird R W cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.81.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3%

DGX stock opened at $185.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $146.91 and a 1 year high of $191.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.79. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.