Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $2.17 Million Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 55.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,071 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,878 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $211.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.58 and a 200-day moving average of $193.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $164.65 and a twelve month high of $214.21.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.