EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. Buys 582,797 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 35.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 582,797 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 3.5% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. owned about 2.03% of Quest Diagnostics worth $439,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $231.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $165.78 and a one year high of $237.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $204.06 and a 200 day moving average of $198.12.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DGX. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.73.

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.