Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,322,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,522,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.19% of Quest Diagnostics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $995,577,000 after purchasing an additional 38,931 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,907,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $363,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,688,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $321,846,000 after purchasing an additional 30,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $192.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $164.65 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $194.42 and its 200-day moving average is $191.11.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,291 shares of company stock valued at $4,475,927. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.