US Bancorp DE Has $3.68 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth about $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $355,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $171.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $124.25 and a 1 year high of $178.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.29. The firm has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,737,140.91. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,144 shares of company stock worth $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.