ING Groep NV Grows Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 26.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $153.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.26. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.