Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael Prevoznik Sells 22,677 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total value of $5,513,005.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7%

DGX stock opened at $240.96 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.46.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 22,733.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,043,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,851,428,000 after acquiring an additional 36,881,535 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at about $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $410,151,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,522,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

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.