Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lessened its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 72.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,322 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75,894 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Ossiam grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $209.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.