M&G Plc Sells 2,375 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

M&G Plc cut its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 331,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the period. M&G Plc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $51,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,464 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.3% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 11,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 46,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,177,000 after purchasing an additional 12,105 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.7 %

DGX opened at $155.20 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.48 and a 200 day moving average of $146.33. The company has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.