Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Position Cut by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 82.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 40,940 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $479,357,000 after purchasing an additional 62,114 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after acquiring an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $140,472,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $90,733,000 after purchasing an additional 79,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE DGX traded up $2.95 on Wednesday, reaching $143.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,060,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 990,023. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $150.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.00 and its 200-day moving average is $134.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.