E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $357,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,366 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DGX. State Street Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 736,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,098,000 after acquiring an additional 28,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.09 and a 52 week high of $178.09. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.74 and its 200-day moving average is $157.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share 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 of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.