Fox Run Management L.L.C. Acquires New Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,682,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 42,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,806 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 17,109 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,969,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased 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. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.6%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $197.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.59. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $194.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.