National Pension Service Sells 9,262 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

National Pension Service lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 218,569 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,262 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.20% of Quest Diagnostics worth $32,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after acquiring an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after acquiring an additional 104,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total value of $142,230.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,178 shares in the company, valued at $11,940,814.58. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $172.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $159.63 and a 200 day moving average of $156.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.66 and a 12-month high of $176.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. 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. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

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.