Greenspring Advisors LLC Takes $519,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Greenspring Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,448 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $241.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $218.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.87. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $171.18 and a 1 year high of $245.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

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.