Amundi Increases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Amundi raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 795,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 77,559 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.71% of Quest Diagnostics worth $122,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.4% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,373 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $418,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $125.09 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The company has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.78. 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 for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. The trade was a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.