Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Raises Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 81.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 8,924 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $995,577,000 after purchasing an additional 38,931 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the third 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. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third 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. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $187.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $198.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.77. 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 12-month low of $164.65 and a 12-month high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

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.