Ronald Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 567 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 27th, 2023

Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) by 69.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,386 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 6,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 97.5% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 3,889 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 191,048 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,165,000 after buying an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 68,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,316,000 after buying an additional 12,298 shares during the period. 88.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $146.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, January 23rd. They issued an “inline” rating and a $159.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $140.06 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $120.40 and a 52-week high of $158.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.61.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical research company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.08. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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 2.03%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 2nd that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $200,109.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,440 shares in the company, valued at $5,577,604.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.