National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 11,085 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $35,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 892.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after buying an additional 19,044 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $155.20 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.33. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently 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.