Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 5,985 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 64.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,222 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,985 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $238,122,000. M&G PLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% in the second quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,090,000 after purchasing an additional 771,824 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,318,000 after purchasing an additional 744,102 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. 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. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $200.68 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $157.20 and a twelve month high of $213.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.05.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 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 net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase 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 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 dividend of $0.86 per share. 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. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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.