Casdin Capital LLC Buys New Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Casdin Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 50,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,676,000. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 0.5% of Casdin Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Paradiem LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,652,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,517,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 19,361 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6,070.7% in the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 61,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,761,000 after purchasing an additional 60,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,026,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DGX. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of DGX opened at $197.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.07.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

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.