Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,024 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $33,000. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $7,744,628.97. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $200.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.05. The stock has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $157.20 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

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.