Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 736,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 28,333 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $111,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $68,144,000 after buying an additional 68,844 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 129,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,072,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,123 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of DGX opened at $175.49 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.09 and a fifty-two week high of $178.09. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $161.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

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.