Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 237 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,576 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. CWM LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,261 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 250.2% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the period. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 15,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $165.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.30 and a 1 year high of $167.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $155.44 and a 200-day moving average of $154.34.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS 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 is an increase 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 yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.