Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $3.62 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,142 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, August 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.63.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:DGX opened at $180.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.66 and a 200-day moving average of $175.26. The company has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $146.91 and a one year high of $191.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS 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 given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $5,293,250.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,453.04. The trade was a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,784,484. The trade was a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.