Bleakley Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,559 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,069,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Key Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $209.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $165.19 and a fifty-two week high of $219.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 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, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’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 directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.17.

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.