Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 59,915 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 36.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 102,338 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 59,915 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $20,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $216.23 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.57. The stock has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $164.65 and a 12 month high of $216.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.