Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 89.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,879 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth about $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 20,800 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $161.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $162.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.