Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 3,252 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,391 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,252 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $29,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Better-than-expected Q4 results and 2026 guidance: Q4 EPS $2.42 vs. $2.35 est., revenue $2.81B vs. $2.75B est., and FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $9.45–$9.65 — supports the recent run to a 12‑month high. Quest Diagnostics Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: $1.0 billion share repurchase authorization (~4.7% of shares outstanding): board buyback typically supports EPS and signals management thinks shares are undervalued. Quest Diagnostics Board Approves Stock Repurchase Program
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: quarterly dividend raised to $0.86 (annualized $3.44), up from $0.80 — incremental income support and a sign of confidence in cash flow. Quest Diagnostics Has Announced That It Will Be Increasing Its Dividend To $0.86
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness: Mizuho upgraded to Buy and raised its target to $235 (largest recent target raise), and Citigroup published a constructive price‑appreciation forecast — these lifts can attract demand and support the stock. Quest Diagnostics Gets a Buy from Mizuho Securities Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Quest Diagnostics
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/mean‑reversion questions: coverage pieces note DGX is at a 52‑week high and review whether recent strength is sustainable — useful for gauging risk/reward but not new fundamental data. Can the Run Continue?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares (~27% of his holding) at about $204 — insider sales can be viewed negatively by some investors even when proceeds are routine. SVP Patrick Plewman Sells 5,662 Shares

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at $23,158,665.60. The trade was a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. The trade was a 26.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 69,951 shares of company stock valued at $13,473,408 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $206.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $183.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $157.20 and a 12-month high of $213.20. The company has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.