Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Acquired by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 64.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,631 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 28,025 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $11,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth approximately $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 892.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 19,044 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1 %

DGX stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $154.16. The company had a trading volume of 611,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,849. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $160.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.