Huntington National Bank Purchases 285 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,463 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $191,823,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.5 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $170.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.04 and a 200-day moving average of $159.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.