Marshall Wace LLP Reduces Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 796,081 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 204,584 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $120,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $67,447,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $164.62 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $125.42 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $168.71 and a 200 day moving average of $160.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

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.