Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Holdings Cut by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 88.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,756 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,139 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in 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 valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.25.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $235.26 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $166.75 and a 1 year high of $240.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale 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. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.