Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,844 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.39% of Quest Diagnostics worth $68,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $153.10 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.15.

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.