SVB Wealth LLC Has $3.01 Million Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

SVB Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $3,341,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $187.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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 target price of $216.58.

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.