Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Holdings Lowered by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,152 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $48,783,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake 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 worth $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE DGX opened at $155.93 on Thursday. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $160.95. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.37. The company has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.