Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 5,974 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,316 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,974 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.07% of Quest Diagnostics worth $11,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 113,956 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.60.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $4.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $160.03. 1,971,426 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 935,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $178.87. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $168.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.67. The company has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.