Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes $1.81 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th 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. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 795,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $122,528,000 after buying an additional 77,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $111,098,000 after buying an additional 28,333 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $167.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $166.64 and its 200-day moving average is $159.06. The stock has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $125.42 and a twelve month high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DGX. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

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.