Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $133,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after buying an additional 39,217 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of DGX opened at $172.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.73. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.66 and a 1-year high of $176.44. The stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 824 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $142,230.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,940,814.58. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.