Norges Bank Makes New $229.52 Million Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,322,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,522,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on DGX shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the business’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 approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,291 shares of company stock worth $4,475,927. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $192.93 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50. The company has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $194.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.11. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.