Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Acquires 7,700 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,320 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,700 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after acquiring an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $200.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.37.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.