4,971 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Bought by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,054,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $235.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.68. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $171.18 and a 52 week high of $240.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given 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 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

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.