Highview Capital Management LLC DE Purchases 2,613 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 42.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,613 shares during the quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $210.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $196.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $200.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.84. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $160.02 and a one year high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $21.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.