Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,112 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,112 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.14% of Quest Diagnostics worth $24,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 461,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $71,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders 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 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.