Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Boosts Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,810 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $342,300,000 after acquiring an additional 26,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $191,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $180.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.65. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $135.47 and a 52 week high of $181.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.73.

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.