Diversify Advisory Services LLC Invests $915,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Davis Selected Advisers raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after buying an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after acquiring an additional 110,280 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,460,000 after acquiring an additional 16,194 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $241.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.48. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $171.18 and a 12-month high of $242.39.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.