Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 5,008 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 71.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,007 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,008 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $275,895,000 after acquiring an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $1,024,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% in the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after purchasing an additional 110,280 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,460,000 after purchasing an additional 16,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 460,725 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,950,000 after purchasing an additional 29,084 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $234.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $166.76 and a 1 year high of $240.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $206.60 and a 200-day moving average of $199.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock worth $3,947,088. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.