Ledyard National Bank Buys Shares of 1,379 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ledyard National Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,379 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after acquiring an additional 108,224 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,407,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE DGX opened at $162.66 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.30 and a 1 year high of $167.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.44 and a 200 day moving average of $154.07.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.