Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Buys 321 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,158 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Baird R W downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $175.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.27. The company has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 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.

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. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.13, for a total value of $42,705.51. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,170,951.21. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,189 shares of company stock worth $8,157,857. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.