Global Retirement Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after acquiring an additional 228,271 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,847,000 after purchasing an additional 110,280 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,460,000 after purchasing an additional 16,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 worth $3,947,088 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.3%

DGX opened at $241.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $217.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.48. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $242.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. 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.