Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $2.95 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 98.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,967 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 9,396 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in the second 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 buying an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 326.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,882 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 12,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.