ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd Has $11.76 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd raised its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6,070.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 60,707 shares during the quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd owned 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $11,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,556,777,000 after acquiring an additional 296,860 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,318,000 after purchasing an additional 744,102 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $533,563,000 after purchasing an additional 208,261 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after purchasing an additional 381,619 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DGX. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $196,227.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,244,097.54. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This trade represents a 31.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,507 shares of company stock valued at $12,702,039. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $202.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $157.20 and a twelve month high of $213.20. The company has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.61.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.