Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 425,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 21,832 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.38% of Quest Diagnostics worth $83,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Key Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.18, for a total value of $376,288.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,430,585.30. The trade was a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 19,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,947,088 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1%

DGX opened at $233.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $166.76 and a 52 week high of $240.13.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 9.18%.The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.31.

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.