Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Bought by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,379 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $323,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 101.9% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 323 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at about $248,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 50.1% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 8,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 32,147 shares of company stock worth $6,004,376 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $185.35 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $148.70 and a 12-month high of $197.55. The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.