Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 129,395 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.90% of Quest Diagnostics worth $288,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $362,945,000 after acquiring an additional 18,533 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,665 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,472,000. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $90,733,000 after purchasing an additional 79,152 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Nine 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,118.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $155.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.48. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $159.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. 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.