Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 34,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,374,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Key Financial Inc grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:DGX opened at $241.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $171.18 and a 1-year high of $242.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.48.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.