LMR Partners LLP Acquires New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,586 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,783,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after buying an additional 238,007 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,028,000 after acquiring an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $22,049,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6 %

DGX stock opened at $161.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $162.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.72. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

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.