Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 38.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $154.83 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.42 and a 200-day moving average of $145.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $160.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

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.