Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.27% of Quest Diagnostics worth $46,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,783,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,049,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $156.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The stock has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $156.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.19.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

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.