3,711 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Acquired by Sawyer & Company Inc

Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,183 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,120 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% 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 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of DGX stock traded up $0.49 on Wednesday, hitting $237.62. The stock had a trading volume of 338,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,698. 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 moving average of $237.34 and a 200 day moving average of $216.03. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $248.84. The stock has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers diagnose, treat and monitor diseases and health conditions. Its services include routine blood and other specimen testing, pathology, molecular and genetic testing, and specialized diagnostic services.

Quest Diagnostics serves a broad range of customers, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.