Addison Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during 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 buying an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after buying an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after buying an additional 104,495 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after buying an additional 78,980 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $175.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.66 and a 1-year high of $176.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.17.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

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.