Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 15,753 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,753 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,665,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 251,255 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,512,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 52.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 940 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.2% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 21,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,678,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 147.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 55,607 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,409,000 after purchasing an additional 33,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 52.0% during the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 13,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 4,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $180.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $146.17 and a 12-month high of $185.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,496 shares of company stock valued at $4,278,787 over the last three months. Company 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.