National Bank of Canada FI Has $12.71 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 163.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,884 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 50,780 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.07% of Quest Diagnostics worth $12,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position 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 valued at $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business'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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX traded down $2.75 on Wednesday, reaching $155.71. The company had a trading volume of 914,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,740. The stock has a market cap of $17.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89. 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 fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company's fifty day moving average is $156.40 and its 200 day moving average is $150.15.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.08.

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.