Eagle Asset Management Inc. Invests $2.29 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,292,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,758,000 after buying an additional 129,395 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after acquiring an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,933,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 461,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $71,500,000 after acquiring an additional 13,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE DGX opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.63. The company has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 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 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. 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 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 in the last 90 days. 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.