Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.10 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 5,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after buying an additional 450,161 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $215.35 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $217.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $197.41 and its 200 day moving average is $193.95. The firm has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.