AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Increases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,475 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $21,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $155.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its 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 last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. Bank of America increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.