Forsta AP Fonden Sells 5,400 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $90,733,000 after purchasing an additional 79,152 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1,077.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 109,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,616,000 after purchasing an additional 100,479 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 892.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 19,044 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,124,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 46,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,177,000 after acquiring an additional 12,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.69.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $144.11 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $139.84 and a 200 day moving average of $134.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $145.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.