Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Bought by Stanley Laman Group Ltd.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,398 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,198,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 28,288 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.12, for a total transaction of $5,293,250.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,453.04. This trade represents a 42.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Baird R W lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.06.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $189.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $146.91 and a 12 month high of $191.49. The company has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.630-9.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.32%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.