Keybank National Association OH Acquires 1,945 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,508 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after buying an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% during 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 buying an additional 113,956 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 736,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,098,000 after buying an additional 28,333 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $161.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.09 and a fifty-two week high of $178.09. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445 in the last ninety days. 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.