California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 36,881,535 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 22,733.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,043,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 36,881,535 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.34% of Quest Diagnostics worth $7,851,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at about $410,151,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $229,522,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,246,000 after buying an additional 811,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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 owned 122,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,714,510.56. This represents a 7.55% 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. Insiders sold a total of 34,277 shares of company stock valued at $8,316,493 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.31.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.6%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $235.78 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $171.18 and a fifty-two week high of $247.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $208.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

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.