Rice Partnership LLC Increases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Rice Partnership LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 17.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,288 shares during the quarter. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after acquiring an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth approximately $5,757,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $207.22 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.99. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $157.20 and a twelve month high of $213.20. The firm has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $227,566.13. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,859,531.93. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This trade represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DGX. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.