Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Takes $654,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 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 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 position. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DGX opened at $241.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.87. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $171.18 and a 52 week high of $245.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.