Michael Prevoznik Sells 22,677 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. The trade was a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $235.94 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $247.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $225.69 and a 200-day moving average of $207.64. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.55.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 22,733.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,043,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,851,428,000 after buying an additional 36,881,535 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.