Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,012 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $11,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after buying an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total transaction of $90,794.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares in the company, valued at $12,109,826.76. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.1 %

DGX opened at $171.54 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.66 and a 52 week high of $176.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.58. The firm has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.