Bailard Inc. Makes New $702,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 4,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 13,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 43,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,520,000 after purchasing an additional 24,722 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 95,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $16,572,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $451,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $187.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $196.15 and a 200 day moving average of $189.94.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Quest Diagnostics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Quest Diagnostics to $10.66 from $10.57 and lifted FY2027 EPS to $11.50 from $11.42, suggesting improved expectations for near- and medium-term profitability.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research also increased its Q4 2026 EPS forecast to $2.60 from $2.58 and bumped its Q3 2027 estimate to $2.97 from $2.90, indicating analysts see steady earnings growth ahead.
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate Barron’s screen included Quest Diagnostics among stocks “coming back to life” after a rough patch, which is more of a sentiment/data screen than a direct company-specific catalyst. Barron’s article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive overall, with the company carrying an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” reinforcing a generally favorable long-term outlook. American Banking News article
• Negative Sentiment: Not all estimate revisions were positive: Zacks trimmed its FY2028 EPS outlook slightly to $12.50 from $12.54 and cut its Q1 2028 estimate to $2.89 from $3.01, which may temper enthusiasm at the long end of the forecast.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,421 shares of company stock valued at $3,790,214. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.