Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB reduced its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 72,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,002,000 after purchasing an additional 18,435 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 84.7% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,736 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $164.98 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.30 and a one year high of $167.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.93. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.