Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 2,943 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $244.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $171.18 and a 1 year high of $246.00. The firm has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 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 represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.