Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 44.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,600 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DGX. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $169.39 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $167.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total value of $91,138.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.