Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,214 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics comprises 1.1% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 2.03% of Quest Diagnostics worth $342,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of DGX opened at $164.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.49. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. 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. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 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.