ING Groep NV Has $1.56 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 33,477 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $172.44 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.66 and a 52 week high of $172.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.56 and a 200 day moving average of $156.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.