Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 38.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,739 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 54,979 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 45,577 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on DGX. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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. Nine research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DGX traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.75. 427,484 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 918,500. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% 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.