2,014 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Purchased by Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,014 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $388,724,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,984,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,012,534,000 after purchasing an additional 493,960 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at about $55,587,000. Coho Partners Ltd. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth about $30,839,000. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $29,213,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total value of $5,293,250.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,453.04. This represents a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total value of $1,384,230.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 over the last 90 days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on DGX shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $179.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $146.17 and a 1 year high of $191.49. The firm has a market cap of $20.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.09.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. 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 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

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.