Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Bought by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 121.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,665 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,392,082 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,497,458,000 after buying an additional 140,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,382,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,033,000 after acquiring an additional 158,617 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,978,000 after acquiring an additional 997,033 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $467,415,000 after acquiring an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $382,085,000 after purchasing an additional 17,987 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $206.59 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $201.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $165.78 and a one year high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.