Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 4th, 2023

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) by 28.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,396 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 548.7% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,125,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $149,673,000 after buying an additional 952,037 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,014,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,917,961,000 after buying an additional 636,301 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth about $56,778,000. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.2% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,153,772 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $153,429,000 after buying an additional 342,198 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,223,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $395,494,000 after buying an additional 210,961 shares during the period. 88.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $159.00 price target for the company. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.00.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $140.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.22. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $120.40 and a twelve month high of $158.34.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical research company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Quest Diagnostics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,415 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $200,109.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,577,604.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

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Quest Diagnostics, Inc engages in the provision of diagnostic testing, information and services. It operates through the Diagnostic Information Services (DIS) and All Other segments. The DIS segment offers diagnostic information services to patients, clinicians, hospitals, health plans, and employers.