Boston Common Asset Management LLC Has $17.70 Million Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,037 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics accounts for approximately 1.1% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Boston Common Asset Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $17,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,329,000 after buying an additional 19,361 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $275,895,000 after buying an additional 228,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $1,024,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 694.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,175,000 after acquiring an additional 157,031 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE DGX opened at $210.87 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $200.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $165.30 and a fifty-two week high of $219.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.17.

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.