Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 535.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.12% of Quest Diagnostics worth $19,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth approximately $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after buying an additional 61,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $151.31 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $156.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.57. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

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.