Vega Investment Solutions Buys New Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,071 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $243.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.70. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $171.18 and a 12 month high of $246.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.