National Pension Service Purchases 11,085 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,831 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,085 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.21% of Quest Diagnostics worth $35,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.7 %

DGX stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $156.20. The company had a trading volume of 524,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,494. The business has a 50 day moving average of $153.48 and a 200 day moving average of $146.33. 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 $17.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $160.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

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.