Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 77.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,786 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.7%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $194.78 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 14,919 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,899 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.