Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Grows Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,083 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $19,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 461,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $71,500,000 after buying an additional 13,938 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $155.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.33. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $160.95.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.