Patton Fund Management Inc. Has $2.31 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Patton Fund Management Inc. lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 63.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,266 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $209.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $164.65 and a twelve month high of $213.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.