SVB Wealth LLC Trims Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

SVB Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 43.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,560 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 126,085 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,021,000 after buying an additional 54,383 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 2,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $421,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on DGX shares. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.00.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:DGX opened at $180.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.09 and a 200 day moving average of $172.44. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $146.17 and a 52 week high of $185.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,784,484. The trade was a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,521 shares of company stock worth $3,913,412. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.