Man Group plc Buys Shares of 2,336 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Man Group plc bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,336 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $1,965,923,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $934,033,000 after purchasing an additional 158,617 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after purchasing an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.1% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,243,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $439,753,000 after purchasing an additional 582,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Argus set a $260.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $236.75 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $171.18 and a twelve month high of $247.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $227.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.31.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total value of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at $29,714,510.56. This represents a 7.55% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,277 shares of company stock worth $8,316,493. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.