Aquatic Capital Management LLC Has $8.06 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Aquatic Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 41.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 30,050 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $238,122,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after buying an additional 381,619 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 weighed in on DGX. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $199.61 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.48. 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.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. The company 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics 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.