Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Stake Lessened by Finemark National Bank & Trust

Finemark National Bank & Trust lessened its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,253 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 16,270 shares during the period. Finemark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,233,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,556,777,000 after acquiring an additional 296,860 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,318,000 after acquiring an additional 744,102 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,982,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $533,563,000 after purchasing an additional 208,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,658,351 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $297,890,000 after purchasing an additional 381,619 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $293,521.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,010,781.66. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $227,566.13. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 38,371 shares in the company, valued at $7,859,531.93. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $211.75 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $157.20 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.