Bessemer Group Inc. Has $519,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,726 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $323,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,116 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,090 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 12,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.31.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $175.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.40. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $148.70 and a 1-year high of $197.55. The company has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 1,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $365,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,824,765. This represents a 11.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the sale, the director owned 29,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 44,189 shares of company stock valued at $8,157,857 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.