Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Purchased by Braun Stacey Associates Inc.

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 18,417 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. owned about 0.14% of Quest Diagnostics worth $29,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 31.9% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 53.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 495,654 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $83,864,000 after purchasing an additional 172,518 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,177,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $199,245,000 after buying an additional 84,530 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,037 shares in the company, valued at $3,267,015.12. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 65,771 shares of company stock worth $12,588,676 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $173.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.64. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $148.70 and a 52 week high of $197.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.56%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.