Mutual Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Mutual Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,346 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,265 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 157.3% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 11,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Baird R W cut Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $5,293,250.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $7,132,453.04. This trade represents a 42.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock worth $9,647,471 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $184.48 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $148.70 and a 52-week high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $182.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.