Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 87.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,155 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.9% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $293,521.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at $14,010,781.66. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE DGX opened at $211.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $23.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.85. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $157.20 and a one year high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results 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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost 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%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.