Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Purchased by Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 128.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,235 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,185 shares during the quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $29,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $176.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.81. 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 $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.62. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued 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 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total transaction of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. The trade was a 51.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 94,461 shares of company stock valued at $17,957,361. Corporate insiders own 8.16% 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.