Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Holdings Raised by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 143.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 189,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 111,974 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $40,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $229,522,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after acquiring an additional 811,320 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after acquiring an additional 450,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.31.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of DGX opened at $231.95 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $208.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $170.53 and a 1-year high of $240.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.