Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $14,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth about $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE DGX opened at $161.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $162.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.31 and a 200-day moving average of $147.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.