Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 289,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,251 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.26% of Quest Diagnostics worth $39,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 8,006 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. 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 research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $151.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.10. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $152.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.