Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Position Cut by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,756 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 60,248 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $15,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 171,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,655,000 after buying an additional 45,577 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 114,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,699,000 after acquiring an additional 6,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8 %

DGX stock opened at $167.28 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $125.42 and a 1-year high of $178.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $166.64 and its 200-day moving average is $159.01. The firm has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

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.