JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 18,505 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,517,015 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 18,505 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 1.36% of Quest Diagnostics worth $235,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's 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 owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $150.86. The stock had a trading volume of 463,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,055. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $157.36 and a 200-day moving average of $151.46. The company has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion for 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%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.15.

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.