Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Buys Shares of 11,500 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX traded up $2.50 on Tuesday, reaching $144.64. The company had a trading volume of 264,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,724. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $150.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.