Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 881,764 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 113,956 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.79% of Quest Diagnostics worth $133,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.23.

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Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5 %

DGX stock traded down $0.86 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $176.09. 719,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,462. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $124.25 and a 12 month high of $178.09. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.