TKG Advisors LLC Grows Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

TKG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 1.2% of TKG Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. TKG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,556,777,000 after purchasing an additional 296,860 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,318,000 after purchasing an additional 744,102 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $533,563,000 after buying an additional 208,261 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after purchasing an additional 381,619 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:DGX opened at $190.25 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $148.70 and a 52 week high of $197.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $181.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.75.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.27.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.