Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 104,495 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 543,472 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Quest Diagnostics worth $81,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $404,838,000 after buying an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in 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. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $109,933,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $172.10. 312,547 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,023,146. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $157.21 and a 200 day moving average of $155.68. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.66 and a 1 year high of $172.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.