Blue Trust Inc. Buys 89 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $1,485,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 12,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 84,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,175,000 after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $155.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $160.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.75.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its 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 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics 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.