Davis Selected Advisers Acquires 7,192 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,361,612 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,192 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 1.4% of Davis Selected Advisers’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Davis Selected Advisers owned 1.22% of Quest Diagnostics worth $259,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $238,122,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd 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. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total transaction of $1,155,048.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,137,724. This represents a 26.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of DGX opened at $195.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $195.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.80. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $157.20 and a 52-week high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.