Fmr LLC Acquires 23,425 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,137,114 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 23,425 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.02% of Quest Diagnostics worth $171,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,843 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,053 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $181.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.4 %

DGX traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $163.75. 1,490,919 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 962,084. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $178.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $168.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.