Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in 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 buying an additional 238,007 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 326.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,882 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 12,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of DGX opened at $163.59 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics 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.