Diversify Advisory Services LLC Invests $915,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,946 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,497,458,000 after acquiring an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings 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 worth $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $241.78 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $242.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.48.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given 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 is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly 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 sale 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial raised 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

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.