North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases Shares of 3,823 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Boston Partners increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $161,946,000 after purchasing an additional 848,481 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,114,451 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $193,391,000 after purchasing an additional 450,161 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after purchasing an additional 426,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $106,183,000 after purchasing an additional 352,072 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.0%

DGX stock opened at $193.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $194.96 and its 200 day moving average is $190.43. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $164.65 and a one year high of $213.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $799,682.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,628.97. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $1,146,115.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,841,227.62. This represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 14,919 shares of company stock worth $3,072,899 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% 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.