Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 869,085 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,796 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.78% of Quest Diagnostics worth $165,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. The trade was a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $227,566.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 38,371 shares in the company, valued at $7,859,531.93. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $211.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.64 and its 200-day moving average is $184.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $157.20 and a one year high of $213.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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.