National Pension Service Sells 191,473 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

National Pension Service lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 81.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 43,418 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 191,473 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $192.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $194.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 14,919 shares of company stock worth $3,072,899 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% 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.