JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 916,898 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 60.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $367,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $67,447,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,392,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $167.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.