17,375 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,375 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,683,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE DGX opened at $243.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.97 and its 200 day moving average is $207.09.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.