Sit Investment Associates Inc. Cuts Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 61.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,615 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,183 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $194.79 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $194.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.13. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.