Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells 1,600 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.4%

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $235.01. The company had a trading volume of 964,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 977,043. The firm has a market cap of $25.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $204.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.52. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $166.75 and a 1 year high of $240.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

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.