Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 91.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 41,119 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,683 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:DGX opened at $195.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $164.65 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.01%.

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

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,979.58. This trade represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 14,919 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,899 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% 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.