Paradiem LLC Makes New $13.65 Million Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Paradiem LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 78,670 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,652,000. Quest Diagnostics comprises approximately 3.3% of Paradiem LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $238,122,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $194.13 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.66. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s 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 expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.