Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 114.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,436 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $643,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $154.16 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $160.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.26.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics 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.