Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 46.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,145 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,826 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,562,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 135,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,634,000 after buying an additional 7,415 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,562,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after buying an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $152.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.51. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $120.10 and a 52-week high of $159.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.