M&G Plc Has $51.46 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

M&G Plc decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the period. M&G Plc owned about 0.30% of Quest Diagnostics worth $51,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 9.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,330 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,929,000 after buying an additional 4,464 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.3% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 11,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 46,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,177,000 after buying an additional 12,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $155.20 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $160.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.33. The company has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.