Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Position Cut by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 8.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,883 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,694 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $9,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $70,080,000 after buying an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,783,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $41,028,000 after acquiring an additional 206,640 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $22,049,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Citigroup increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $168.92.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $1.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $154.98. The company had a trading volume of 849,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,431. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $156.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.19. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. 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 (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

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.