Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Has $1.21 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $19,376,000 after buying an additional 108,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $81,994,000 after buying an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $172.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $159.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.78. The stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.66 and a fifty-two week high of $176.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.