ING Groep NV Lowers Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

ING Groep NV lessened its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 76.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 33,477 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 28,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 555 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 5,150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,075 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens & Northern Corp lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 1,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,813,096.55. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock valued at $465,998. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $172.44 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.66 and a 1 year high of $172.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

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.