Highview Capital Management LLC DE Has $1.53 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 42.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,613 shares during the quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 41,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,145,000 after buying an additional 2,855 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 124.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 80,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,018,000 after buying an additional 44,780 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 13,203 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,291,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $1,635,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $196.46 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $200.52 and a 200 day moving average of $188.84. The company has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $160.02 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 8.99%.Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 39.31%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,841,227.62. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,628 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total value of $538,372.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,523.26. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 24,083 shares of company stock valued at $4,945,262 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.