Diversified Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Diversified Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 79.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,013 shares during the quarter. Diversified Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Key Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% 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. Insiders sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $237.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $213.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $171.18 and a 12 month high of $240.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

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.