Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,714,510.56. The trade was a 7.55% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $239.60 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $171.18 and a 1 year high of $247.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $227.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.11. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.