Private Trust Co. NA Grows Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 113,956 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,144 shares of company stock worth $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $175.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $124.25 and a 1-year high of $178.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $160.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

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.