Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 717,085 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 717,085 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,986,000.

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

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $244.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.84. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $247.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Argus set a $260.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value 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 represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.