Czech National Bank Reduces Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Czech National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,529 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montecito Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 33.5% during the first quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 2,549 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 170.7% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 655 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 19.2% in the first quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 3,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 22,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE DGX opened at $138.96 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $145.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

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.