The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 99,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,146,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,965,923,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third 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 last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after purchasing an additional 811,320 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $133,388,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $244.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $223.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.