Barclays PLC Has $47.86 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 251,132 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 105,269 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.23% of Quest Diagnostics worth $47,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $201.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.19 and its 200 day moving average is $185.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.