Trust Investment Advisors Makes New $223,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Trust Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $221,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total value of $42,705.51. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,170,951.21. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,668 shares of company stock valued at $9,917,788. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $180.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $148.70 and a 12-month high of $197.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.