Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Makes New $303,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,011 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $46,407,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,004 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $7,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Eight investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 8.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $13.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $175.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,951. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.57 and a 200 day moving average of $160.43. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $128.38 and a 1-year high of $178.87. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.