By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 44,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $249,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.8% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,144,000 after purchasing an additional 68,844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % 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, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at $11,852,680.84. The trade was a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,445 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance
Shares of DGX opened at $175.49 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.09 and a 52 week high of $178.09.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 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%. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.
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.
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