Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 526,033 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,253 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $103,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $201.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.79. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $165.19 and a one year high of $219.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

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.