GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,172 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,407,000 after buying an additional 78,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $162.46 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.30 and a 52-week high of $167.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.