Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $196,227.14 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,244,097.54. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Patrick Plewman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 10th, Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $202.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.76. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $157.20 and a fifty-two week high of $213.20.

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, 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 return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% in the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 433,764 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% during the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,757,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Eight equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

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.