JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,517,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 18,505 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $235,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,049,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after acquiring an additional 129,395 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.1 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $150.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $157.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.37. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

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.