Swedbank AB Acquires 19,570 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 30.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,863 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,783,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings 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 worth $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,049,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $155.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.79. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The company has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $164.58.

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.