Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.79% of Quest Diagnostics worth $133,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during 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 lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total transaction of $90,794.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $172.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $159.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.66 and a 12 month high of $176.44.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.