Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Holdings Lifted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,359 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,744,628.97. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $187.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The company has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

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.