Hager Investment Management Services LLC Buys Shares of 2,051 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $163.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.18 and a 12 month high of $167.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.81. The stock has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.