Patrick Plewman Sells 2,855 Shares of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Patrick Plewman sold 2,855 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $588,729.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,133,979.58. This represents a 15.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Patrick Plewman also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 19th, Patrick Plewman sold 958 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total value of $196,227.14.
• On Tuesday, February 10th, Patrick Plewman sold 5,662 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $1,155,048.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $4.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $199.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,055,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,341. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $157.20 and a 1 year high of $213.50. The company has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 5,714 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $221,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.