Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,262 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,622 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,107 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position 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 worth $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 77,316 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,974 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of DGX opened at $164.08 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.42 and a fifty-two week high of $178.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.52. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 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.