Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 71 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,208 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,012,534,000 after purchasing an additional 493,960 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth about $388,724,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,177,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $199,245,000 after acquiring an additional 84,530 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,013,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $171,405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 961,154 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $162,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,079 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,765. This trade represents a 11.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:DGX opened at $189.71 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $146.91 and a fifty-two week high of $191.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.06.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.