Focused Alpha LLC Acquires New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Focused Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,994 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after purchasing an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after buying an additional 110,280 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 39.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 313,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,460,000 after buying an additional 16,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total transaction of $376,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,585.30. This trade represents a 13.41% 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. Insiders have sold 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $235.20 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $240.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $216.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DGX. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.31.

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.