Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 9,396 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 98.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,967 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 9,396 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $48,783,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake 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 worth $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,049,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.79.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.