Swedbank AB Boosts Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $155.10 and its 200 day moving average is $148.79. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.