Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,836 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,836 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $243.11 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $223.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.09. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19. The firm has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.