Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 2,210 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,107 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.05% of Quest Diagnostics worth $8,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $165.64. 78,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,267. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.96.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,797,750. This trade represents a 19.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.