Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 17,470 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,470 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 12,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth about $1,485,000. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.69.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1 %

DGX opened at $168.97 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.30 and a 1-year high of $171.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.07. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. 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 (DPR) is 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.