Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Sells 166,507 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. trimmed its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 175,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 166,507 shares during the quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $30,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,223,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $995,577,000 after buying an additional 38,931 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after buying an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $335,204,000 after purchasing an additional 24,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,688,769 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $321,846,000 after purchasing an additional 30,418 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% 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. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $202.62 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $164.65 and a 52 week high of $213.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

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.