Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $67,447,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after acquiring an additional 104,495 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,109,826.76. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $166.96 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.