Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 790,960 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 14,347 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $108,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after buying an additional 62,114 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after buying an additional 18,533 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,472,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $90,733,000 after acquiring an additional 79,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.42.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $153.66 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $154.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $144.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.41. The stock has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.