VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $16.75 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 79,013 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,747,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 22,733.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 37,043,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,851,428,000 after purchasing an additional 36,881,535 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $410,151,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This trade represents a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $236.75 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $228.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $208.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $247.19.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.