Achmea Investment Management B.V. Grows Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 144,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 7,180 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. owned approximately 0.13% of Quest Diagnostics worth $27,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $323,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 15.2% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 59.6% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,322 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.9% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,379 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,918,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $198.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. 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 12 month low of $157.20 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $195.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.74.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the business’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 $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,137,724. The trade was a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.