IFP Advisors Inc Raises Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,264 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,986 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,391,000 after buying an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $106,183,000 after buying an additional 352,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,979.58. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 14,919 shares of company stock worth $3,072,899 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of 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 shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.0%

DGX stock opened at $193.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.43. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $213.50. The company has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

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.