Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Purchases 11,496 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,967 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,496 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.1 %

DGX traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $158.54. 757,005 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 914,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $156.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.61. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm'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 value 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. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.