First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 371,548 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,955 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $70,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.5% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,713,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after purchasing an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% during the 3rd quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 209.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after buying an additional 5,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $219.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $1,146,115.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $799,682.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,083 shares of company stock worth $4,945,262. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $200.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $192.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.05. The firm has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.07. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 6th. 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.