Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $44.27 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 285,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,223 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $44,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $162.59. The company has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.