Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Director Sells 1,250 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Director Vicky Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,267,015.12. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.3%

DGX stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $189.18. The company had a trading volume of 379,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,030. The stock has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.96. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $148.70 and a 52 week high of $197.55.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Baird R W cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,556,777,000 after buying an additional 296,860 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,012,534,000 after acquiring an additional 493,960 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $995,577,000 after acquiring an additional 38,931 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $533,563,000 after acquiring an additional 208,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.