Norinchukin Bank The Grows Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,962 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,345,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 6.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $172.56 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.52. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $133.11 and a fifty-two week high of $178.87. The firm has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.